


The Miracle of Love

by b_blueberry



Series: Bleeding Love [1]
Category: The Hobbit - All Media Types
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Angst, Dwalin & Thorin Oakenshield Friendship, Eventual Bilbo Baggins/Thorin Oakenshield, M/M, Mpreg, Other Additional Tags to Be Added, Teen Pregnancy, Teen Romance, Teenagers, Unplanned Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2013-07-08
Updated: 2014-07-03
Packaged: 2017-12-18 03:48:39
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 35
Words: 137,727
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/875281
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/b_blueberry/pseuds/b_blueberry
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Of course something like this must happen to me, thought Bilbo when he stared at the third pregnancy test that morning."</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: dub-con.

Of course something like this could only happen to him.

It all goes back almost two months ago, to a party he has been dragged to. No one ever invited him to a party. He was that nerd who got excellent grades in history and math and spent his lunch breaks in the library, away from the others. He was that kid in the school that had no social life and only one friend. Yup, he was that kid and going to parties was never his thing, but Bofur insisted and he decided to give it a try.

The party was, like always, at Durin’s mansion. And it was, like all parties, hosted by Fíli and Kíli, the younger brothers of Thorin. They were two years younger than Bilbo, that made them fifteen years old and four years younger than Thorin. The Durin’s were very rich. No one knew where they got the money and no one dared to ask, but they were the richest family in the neighborhood.

Thrain and Valla were strict parents; at least that's what the rumors said. Thrain raised his children with an iron fist never allowing that the money would get into their minds, that’s why they were attending public school. Parents loved Durin children because they were always polite and knew how to behave, but that was just a mask.

Anyone that spent more than a few hours with the twins could see that this was far from the truth. Fíli and Kíli were troublemakers. Name the stupidest thing that comes to your mind they have probably have done it already. Trips to the principal’s office were something that happened on a daily basis but it was the respect that Mr. Gandalf had for their parents that kept them from getting punished.

Thorin, he was something else. He was very popular in the school and everybody wanted to hang out with him, but he didn’t trust a lot of people. There was a group called Thorin’s Company that at the beginning had thirteen members. Now it only had ten because Balin, Oin and Gloin were already at University. It was basically impossible to get into that group. Thorin was their leader and no outsiders were allowed. He was good at sports, but wasn’t very bright and didn’t have such a good grades as Bilbo for example, but he didn’t need them, money would get him to any school he would want to go.

We should get back to the party. It was like any other party that Fíli and Kíli organized when their parents were not at home. Liters of alcohol, loud music and some illegal substances, name it and it was there.

Bilbo didn’t even know why he agreed to go. He wasn’t invited and he didn’t know anybody there. That’s not entirely true because he knew Bofur and he invited him, but Bilbo still felt like he was intruding. He was able to lie to himself all he wanted but deep down he knew why he decided to come.

Thorin. He was the solo purpose why he came to the party. Bofur was part of the Company and he quickly joined the others but not before placing a beer in Bilbo’s hands. Bilbo never drank alcohol because it was something his parents told him not to do. But his parents also told him not to have unprotected sex, no they told him not to have sex at all because he was too young to understand the responsibility that came with it. But hey, we all do things our parents tell us not to.

It took him an hour and he almost finished the beer. He wasn’t drunk per say, but he was in a much better mood than when he came to the party. And that is when everything started. He saw Thorin. Of course he saw him it was really hard not to see him. He was tall and beautiful and the alcohol in Bilbo made everything on Thorin look even better. Oh, I should probably mention that Bilbo has a crush on Thorin if you still haven’t figured it out. He has been in love with him since the moment he saw him, five years ago, in a school hallway.

Love is blind and alcohol only helps to see the things differently than they already are. Bilbo caught Thorin staring at his direction. It took him a couple of minutes before he figured out that Thorin was actually looking at him. Another hour of flirting and a beer later Thorin finally approached Bilbo. He did say a word just grabbed his hand and lead him down the hall to a bedroom.

You can guess what happened next. Thorin locked the doors so that no one would disturb then and turned to Bilbo who swallowed. Things progressed very fast from then on. Thorin kissed Bilbo and Bilbo returned the kiss with all the love he felt for Thorin. Thorin’s hand explored his back and pulled him even closer to his chest. It didn’t take long and he and Thorin were both naked lying on a bed, Thorin on top of Bilbo controlling everything that happened. Even if Bilbo was little drunk he was well aware of everything that was happening and he knew where this was going but he had no intention to stop this thing, whatever it was, between him and Thorin.

Thorin only stopped for a second to reach in his trousers to look for a condom, but he found none. Bilbo was panting beneath him and he wanted to get the things moving. “That’s okay,” encouraged Bilbo. “We’re safe.” Thorin took this as indication that Bilbo already took care of protection and he decided to move things to the next level.

It hurt, when Thorin penetrated him for the first time. It hurt a lot, and we was able to feel some blood dripping down his thigh, but he wasn’t going to let this stop him from what he wanted for a very long time. Thorin gave him a few moments to adjust to the intrusion before he started moving. This is when everything became more raw and less personal. Up to that point Bilbo had a feeling that Thorin cared for him and that his kisses held a meaning but now everything changed. Now it felt that it was only important that Thorin gets his release. Bilbo’s interest in Thorin suddenly flagged and he was just lying there, waiting for Thorin to finish what he started.

It didn’t take long before Thorin found his release. He gently pulled out of Bilbo and gave him a kiss on a forehead. “Thank you,” he said before he started gathering his clothes that were on the floor. He dressed himself and left the room without even looking at Bilbo.

Bilbo was in to big shock to give any kind of response to what just happened. He got dressed as quickly as possible and ran home without saying goodbye to anyone. When he came home he ran directly to the shower without taking his clothes off and stood few minutes under the cold water before he collapsed on the shower floor and started crying. It took him some time before he was able to compose himself. He got rid of his wet clothes and ran a warm shower. He scrubbed himself and removed the blood and the seed from Thorin off himself. Once deemed clean enough he dressed into his favorite pajamas and climbed into the bed, hoping that he will soon forget what happened. It took him a few days before he was comfortable enough to climb out of his bed and it took him two weeks to get out of the house. With every passing day he felt stronger and it didn’t take him long before he was able to put this horrible experience behind him. But not for long.

:::

Of course something like this must happen to him, thought Bilbo when he stared at the third pregnancy test that morning. It started like a common cold. At the beginning he didn’t feel good, he had a headache and he had no appetite, but it didn’t take long before he was getting dizzy and started throwing up at the smell of basically anything. He was able to hide it from his parents and his little brother for now, but he didn’t know how long he would be able to hide it, especially now when he had proof in his hand that his life is going to change dramatically in the months that will follow.

“Bilbo,” called Belladonna, Bilbo’s mother. “You are going to be late for your first day back. Hurry up!”

Bilbo quickly collected used pregnancy test and put them in his bag. There is no way he was leaving them in the house, someone could find them. It was best to dispose them somewhere else, maybe at school, where no one will know they were his. “I’m coming, give me a moment.”

He ran downstairs where everyone was already waiting for him. His little brother Frodo will go to a fourth grade this year and even though he was old enough to go by himself, Bungo and Belladonna always escorted him to the first day of school. They weren’t rich that’s why they always used the bus, wherever they went and it was a little awkward at the first day of school when Bilbo’s parents were on the same bus as he was.

“Are you feeling alright sweetheart,” asked Belladonna and touched Bilbo’s forehead. “You look a little pale.”

“I’m fine,” lied Bilbo. “Can we go now?”

“Yes, let’s go. The bus will be here shortly,” said Bungo and they left the house.

:::

For Bilbo, first day back was nothing special. He was a little worried that we would come across Thorin, but he was lucky because Thorin was nowhere in sight.

He was rather pale and some of the teachers asked him if he was feeling alright and he assured him that nothing was wrong with him. For the most of the day he was able to keep the content of his stomach, but when someone in the history class was eating cheese flips he lost his control and ran to the bathroom in the middle of the class. Everyone was looking at him when he ran out, but no one said a thing and Master Elrond, the history teacher didn’t say anything when Bofur ran after him.

When Bofur entered the bathroom he was able to hear Bilbo retching into the toilet, but he didn’t say a thing. He waited for his friend to come out before speaking.

“Are you feeling alright,” Bofur asked.

“I’m fine,” Bilbo answered and cleaned his mouth from the awful taste.

“Stop lying to me and tell me what is wrong with you,” demanded Bofur.

Bilbo sighed before turning around to look in his friend’s eyes. “I’m pregnant.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is what I wrote during a break from my other fiction. I’ll continue this because chapters here will be shorter and I’ll be able to update more often. All mistakes are mine, because I don’t have a beta. When I see them I’ll correct them. Feedback is always welcome.
> 
> (Thorin is aware that Bilbo can get pregnant because in my universe a lot of male hobbits are able to bear children but not all of them. They are the only males in this universe that can get pregnant.)


	2. Chapter 2

“I’m pregnant.” Saying it out loud made everything more real. Up until now Bilbo knew he was pregnant in the back of his mind, but saying it made him realize that there is something growing inside of him.

“Y-y-you are pregnant,” question Bofur and Bilbo nodded in confirmation. “You can’t be pregnant, you never… You know…”

“Well I did.”

“I thought you wanted to wait,” exclaimed Bofur at the revelation. “To make things special.”

“Can you keep it down a bit? I don’t want the whole school to know.”

Bofur sighed. “Why did you do it,” he finally asked.

“Why everyone does it,” spat Bilbo back. He was a little annoyed by Bofur’s judgmental tone. “I found the right person to do it with and I did it.”

“But you always said that the right person for you was…,” Bofur trailed off, he finally understood why his friend has done it and most importantly, with who. “You slept with Thorin,” Bofur stated his voice showing compassion.

“It’s not important,” answered Bilbo.

“It is important! This is Thorin’s baby you are carrying –“

“This is _my_ baby I’m carrying,” interrupted Bilbo before he realized what he just said. This was his baby. The small group of cells growing inside him represented his baby.

Bofur was little surprised with Bilbo’s answer but he decided to ignore it. “Are you sure you are pregnant?”

“Yes. I took three pregnancy tests at home.”

“And they were all positive,” questioned Bofur.

“Yes. Without a doubt they were all positive.”

“Have you told your parents?”

Bilbo raised an eyebrow at Bofur’s question. “I only found out this morning, there wasn’t a lot of time to have this kind of conversation. I couldn’t just go downstairs and be like ‘hey mum, I’m pregnant, got to run now, talk to you later’.”

“I see your point. When are you planning on telling them? You have to let them know soon, because I have heard that this kind of pregnancies can end up badly if the patient doesn’t visit the doctor regularly.”

“I’ll tell them.” Bofur raised an eyebrow. “Soon, I promise. Can I get a hug now?”

Bofur didn’t have to be told twice before he pulled his friend into a loving embrace. “Come on, let’s go back to class.”

“I don’t feel like it,” complained Bilbo. “Everything there smells of cheese flips and they make my stomach turn.”

“Okay, then we’ll go somewhere else.”

“Not to the cafeteria,” exclaimed Bilbo. “I don’t know what they are cooking in there but it smells horrible.”

“I thought you liked the food here,” said Bofur.

“I did. Before I got pregnant,” Bilbo whispered the last part. “Now I hate it.” Bofur couldn’t help but laugh at his friend’s statement.

:::

Bofur was a great friend. He didn’t mention the pregnancy for the rest of the day. He figured out that Bilbo was already worried enough and he needed his support not his judging. They spent the rest of class in the school park and they returned to school when the bell rang. Bilbo went to apologize to Mr. Elrond for running out like this and he accepted his apology. Bilbo was one of his favorite students that’s why he didn’t question him what happened only advised him to talk to someone about whatever was troubling him.

Bilbo managed to keep the content of his stomach for the rest of the day. He didn’t eat much except few crackers and some juice, because everything else didn’t do well to his stomach.

He was relieved when the bell rang for the last time and he was finally able to go home. He and Bofur decided that a walk wasn’t such a bad idea in such a nice weather and Bofur escorted him home.

As expected, Frodo was already home from school. He was full of energy and he kept running around the house demanding Bilbo’s attention. But Bilbo was far too tired to be running after his little brother and playing his games. It was first day of school and that meant that he didn’t get any homework or assignments to do. His afternoon was free and he decided to spend it in his room reading a book. He didn’t even hear his parents come home until his mother called him for dinner. He had no intention of eating it, but if would refuse then his parents would get the confirmation that something is wrong.

When he entered the kitchen he was greeted with warm smiles from his parents. Nothing strange, he thought.

“How are you feeling, sweetheart,” asked Belladonna while she filled Bilbo’s plate with way too much food. “Are you feeling better? You still look rather pale.”

“I’m fine,” answered Bilbo as he accepted the plate he had no intention of eating.

Dinner was a quiet affair. The only one speaking was Frodo who apparently had a very eventful first day of school. Bilbo managed to get few bites of dinner down, but most of the time he spent playing with the food on the plate.

“Can I be excused,” Bilbo asked.

“But you didn’t eat anything,” reasoned Belladonna.

“I’m not hungry. I had a big lunch at school,” lied Bilbo.

“Alright then,” answered Belladonna, unsure if her son was telling her the truth. “You can go.”

Bilbo didn’t need to be told twice. He cleaned his plate from the table and ran back upstairs to his bathroom. He didn’t understand how this was even possible but he once again lost the content of his stomach even though there wasn’t much in it. Whoever named this _morning sickness_ was clearly never pregnant in his life. He washed his mouth and cleaned his teeth in no time. After two weeks of vomiting he became quite the expert on how to hide it and how to quickly get rid of the taste. But one thing he wasn’t an expert and that was lying to his parents. He knew that sooner or later they will figure out that something is wrong with him and then they will, like all normal parents, start worrying.

In Bilbo’s case things like this usually happen sooner than anticipated. It wasn’t long after dinner when his mother called him to come down. He was laying on the bed, his face pressed into the pillow, when she called. “I’m coming,” he called back but still took another ten minutes before he dragged himself downstairs.

He was too tired to notice the ambush his parents prepared in the kitchen. One door were already locked and the others got closed at the moment he entered. He was trapped.

“Why don’t you sit down,” said Bungo and led him to a kitchen chair and gently pushed him down to sit.

“We wanted to talk to you about some things,” started Belladonna. “We noticed that you don’t feel good and you look pale. You don’t eat much. And there is that thing with the water in the bathroom.”

Bilbo’s eyes widened. He knew where this conversation is going and he wasn’t prepared to have it just yet. If it was possible Bilbo became even paler.

Belladonna placed a card on the table and pushed it toward Bilbo. “We want you to talk to this person.” Bilbo reached for the card with a shaking hand. It was the name and the number of psychiatrist. Why would he need a psychiatrist when he was pregnant? “We understand that you don’t feel comfortable talking to us about all of your problems,” continued Belladonna, “But maybe you could talk to someone you don’t know.”

“We just want you to make you feel better, son,” added Bungo. “This thing that you are doing to yourself is not healthy.”

Now Bilbo understood what they were trying to say. “I’m not having an eating disorder.”

“We understand this is hard for you to accept this, but this is a disease and with the right treatment we can control it.”

“You don’t understand a thing!”

“Calm down son,” soothed Bungo. “We’re not here to judge you. We are here to help you get better.”

“I’m not making myself sick if that is what you are implying.”

“I have read enough books to know that everything is not alright. You don’t eat, you try eating in front of us but you don’t eat as you used to. You look pale and you lost a lot of weight. You constantly lie to us and there is that thing with the –“

“I’m pregnant,” Bilbo blurted out before Belladonna could finish her sentence.

“What,” asked Bungo with disbelief, but Bilbo did not answer.

“Sweetheart is that true,” asked Belladonna after few moments, but once again Bilbo didn’t answer.

They were quiet for few minutes until Bilbo decided to break the silence. “You are not going to yell at me about how big of a disappointment I am for a son and how I destroyed my life?”

“You already know that.”

“Bungo!” warned Belladonna. “How did something like this even happen?”

“Do you really need me to explain how this happens? I thought you knew,” answered Bilbo annoyed by the unbelieving tone of his mother’s voice.

“Don’t try to play smart here,” snapped Bungo.

“I’m sorry mum. I didn’t mean to.”

“Who’s the father,” asked Bungo.

“I’m the father.”

“You know what I meant so don’t try to play smart with me. I’m not in the mood. I’ll ask again, who is the father?”

Bilbo didn’t answer and Belladonna gasped. “Did someone force you?”

“No!” exclaimed Bilbo. “Nothing like this happened, I knew what I was doing.”

“Then why didn’t you use a condom,” asked Bungo.

“I don’t know,” sighed Bilbo. “I wasn’t thinking at that time.”

“You said nobody forced you,” panicked Belladonna.

“I said I wasn’t thinking at the time not that I didn’t agree,” explained Bilbo.

“Then why are you not telling us who the father is,” demanded Bungo.

“Would it make any difference?”

“No it wouldn’t,” sighed Bungo when he realized that his son was right. It wasn’t important who the father was, his son was pregnant and nothing would change that. “Are you sure you are p-p-pregnant?” Even for Bungo it was hard to say it.

“Yes. I took three tests and they were all positive.”

“Alright then,” said Belladonna after she took a deep breath to calm herself. “This is happening and we will have to deal with it as a family.”

“I’m sorry,” said Bilbo on the verge of crying.

Belladonna stood up and pulled her son into an embrace. “There is nothing you can do about it now. Your life will change and not entirely for the better, but we will help you as much as we can. We may not have much to offer but this baby will be loved.” Bilbo started sobbing into his mother’s chest.

“I’m sorry.”

Belladonna cupped Bilbo’s cheeks and forced him to look her in the eyes. “We will help you get through this, I promise.” He gave him a kiss on the forehead. “First things first, we need to find a good doctor.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here is another chapter. We are still not finished with the conversation, there is more to come. As I said these chapters won’t be long (max. 3500 words). I do have some trouble writing them short but if I don’t give myself a limit we would end up with chapters as long as in The Crown of Sonnets.  
> For everyone that is waiting for me to update that story I can tell you that the next chapter is already in progress. It’s coming together rather quickly. I already wrote the beginning and now I can start complicating things. Anyway, enough of this for now. I hope you enjoyed this (short) chapter. Feedback is always welcome and I’ll see you at the next one.


	3. Chapter 3

Finding a good doctor has proven more difficult than Bilbo would have imagined.

“I will ask one of my coworkers if she knows a good one,” stated Belladonna. “I think one of her relatives got pregnant. Both he and the baby survived without any complications.”

Bilbo swallowed thick at the word complications.

“It’s going to be expensive. I’ll ask if I can work double time so that we could get some extra money.”

“Wonderful idea dear,” said Belladonna. “I’ll ask for additional hours too. I’m sure that the boys can survive at home without me.”

“I’ll get the money from the bank tomorrow.”

“I think that is for the best. The doctor is going to be expensive and we will need all that money if we want to pay for it.”

Bilbo felt excluded from the conversation. His parents were talking about doctor, money and work. He was lost. Weren’t they supposed to be discussing his _problem_?

“That found will only last for few visits, and then we will have to find the money somewhere else,” explained Belladonna.

“Wait,” interrupted Bilbo. “What money are you talking about?”

“The money from yours and Frodo’s found,” answered Belladonna.

“That’s for university,” exclaimed Bilbo.

“You’re not going to university,” pointed out Bungo. Bilbo looked at him like he was about to start crying again, but Bungo didn’t meant to be mean, he just pointed out the truth. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it like this. I want you to go to university, I wish we would be able to afford it, but we can’t. We were hoping that you would get a scholarship so that you could go, because without one you wouldn’t be able to go.” Bungo sighed. “Things have changed now. You are pregnant and the chances of you getting a scholarship are close to none.”

“Then use only half of the money. Leave the other half for Frodo,” offered Bilbo.

“We can’t sweetheart. I don’t think you realize how expensive this doctor is. We will need all the money we can get.”

“I destroyed Frodo’s future,” panicked Bilbo.

“Calm down,” soothed Belladonna and pulled her son into an embrace until he calmed down. “You didn’t destroy his future. I think he would agree for you to use the money. He loves you very much and he would never want to see you get hurt. We need to pay for that doctor otherwise the chances that this baby survives is less than thirty percent.”

Bilbo’s world suddenly collapsed. He didn’t know how much trouble his pregnancy would cause. “C-c-can you ask if I can work with you at the grocery store?” Belladonna gave him a questioning look. “I want to help. I can work after school and help you with the money.”

“You have school to go to,” said Bungo. “Your education is still very important to us.”

“I’ll work twice as hard, I promise. I’ll get the same grades, please just let me help.”

“I think we can give him a try,” said Belladonna. “He can come to work when he has the time. We’ll need all the money we can get.”

Bungo thought about it for a minute before he agreed. This is going to be hard for his family but they will manage somehow. “You can try, but your health and education is more important and if I see that you are not doing great in school I’ll put an immediate stop to it.”

“I’ll not disappoint you, I promise.”

“I know son,” said Bungo and pulled Bilbo into a hug. “I’m not angry at you, you know that?”

“Yes I know.”

“We are going the help you the best we can, I promise.”

“Would you like something to eat,” asked Belladonna.

“I don’t feel like eating. My stomach doesn’t agree with me,” answered Bilbo.

“Alright, why don’t you go to sleep? Try to calm down and we’ll see what we can do about it in the morning.”

“I’ll try. Thank you for being so understanding. I’m grateful that you are my parents.”

“And we could never be happier to have you as a son. We love you,” told him Belladonna.

:::

Bilbo felt relief when he went to sleep that night. He felt better that he told his parents. All in all they took it rather well. He knew his life was going to change and is not going to be easy. His life in school will become even harder. Nobody likes a pregnant teenager and once he will start to show the teasing won’t stop. But he will do this. He will be strong for his baby. He never imagined that he would come to love it so quickly but he also never imagined to be pregnant at seventeen. Life is full of surprises.

When he woke up the next morning he felt better than he felt in than the last few days. He still felt nauseated but he didn’t feel the need to throw up. He got dressed and went to the kitchen where his mother served him some toast and a bowl of fruit.

“Eat it slowly. It’s less likely that it will make you sick. If you want I can open the window to let some fresh air in,” offered Belladonna.

“No I’m fine, thank you.” Bilbo ate his breakfast slowly like his mother told him and for the first time in a week he was full. He was a little dizzy but it wasn’t that bad. He could live with it.

After breakfast the doorbell rang. It was Bofur. He came to check on him and was happy to find out that Bilbo already told his parents. They decided to take a walk to school and Frodo decided to join them.

Bilbo almost forgot about his pregnancy and he enjoyed the conversation with Bofur. They escorted Frodo in before going to their classes. Everything seemed fine until Bilbo saw Thorin in a hallway. He thought he would be able to get away from him but Bofur called him.

“Thorin!” Bofur called before he realized that he made a mistake. Bilbo was standing right next to him and clearly he didn’t want to have anything to do with Thorin.

Thorin turned around and looked in the direction of Bilbo and Bofur. Dwalin, Fíli and Kíli were standing next to him. Bilbo started to breathe heavily when Thorin took few steps toward him. This was too much for him to handle. He didn’t see Thorin for two months after their encounter and he wasn’t prepared to face him now. Before he realized his world turned black.

He woke up on a soft bed and blinked a few times before he was able to where he was. He was at the school nurse and Bofur was sitting right next to him.

“What happened,” Bilbo asked.

“Oh, you’re awake! How do you feel,” panicked Bofur.

“Dizzy and everything is spinning in my head. What happened?”

“You fainted when you saw Thorin –“

“Oh my God,” groaned Bilbo.

“-I caught you in the last moment and brought you here.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll call the nurse and tell her that you are awake.” Bofur returned a minute later with the school nurse.

“How are you feeling?” she asked.

“Everything is spinning in my head.”

“That’s expected. Your blood pressure is low. Have you eaten anything this morning?”

“Yes, I had breakfast.”

“If you are feeling better you can go. I would advise you to eat something and call your parents and go home.”

“I’m fine. I’ll find something to eat I am sure I’ll feel better afterward.”

“Alright then. You should thank your friend here. You were lucky he caught you otherwise you would have a nice bump on your head right now.”

“I will. Can I go now?”

“Yes you can go. If you don’t feel good please contact your parents.”

Bilbo quickly gathered his things and left. Bofur was waiting for him.

“You scared me!”

“I’m sorry, I didn’t plan this.”

“It’s alright,” soothed Bofur. “Let’s go find you some chocolate; it will make you feel better.”

Bofur spent the entire day taking care of Bilbo. He was right next to him making sure he was feeling okay and that he didn’t faint again. They avoided Thorin and his group and Bilbo was relieved that he didn’t have to talk to him. Bofur told him that Thorin didn’t ask what was wrong with him when he fainted and that he passed them almost without noticing.

It was time that Bilbo pulls himself together. He won’t be able to avoid Thorin forever and there was no need that he was afraid of him. Thorin didn’t know about the baby and he made Bofur promise him that he won’t say a word to anybody.

All in all the day was a success because he didn’t throw up. If he hated something was this and the fact that he was able to survive the day without it was amazing. He knew that morning sickness wasn’t over yet but it was nice to pass a day with a full stomach.

After school Bofur walked him home. He was able to tell him how his parents reacted to his pregnancy now that Frodo wasn’t with them.

:::

His parents arrived later than they normally would. His father looked exhausted and his mother was not looking any better. They worked additional hours just for him and to thank the he offered to prepare dinner.

“I talked to my boss today,” announce Belladonna. “He said he would take you. He was very happy with you when you worked for him those two weeks during summer.”

“You didn’t tell him about my…” Bilbo trailed off.

“No I didn’t. You can come to work tomorrow, but after school and only if you have time and you feel well enough. I agree with your father your education and health is important to us. How are you feeling today?”

“I’m fine. I didn’t throw up today.”

“Don’t be so excited about it. This doesn’t mean this is over.”

“I know, but I’m happy because I was able to eat something today.”

“Did you call a doctor,” Bungo asked his wife.

“I did. He sounds really nice. He said we can come on Thursday. I’ll come home earlier and wait for you to come from school,” she told Bilbo.

“You are going with me?” asked Bilbo.

“You are a minor and you need a parent there with you. Don’t worry. Nothing bad will happen. It’s a standard checkup, just to make sure you are really pregnant and he will ask you a few questions.”

Bilbo swallowed thickly. He didn’t like doctors and the thought of someone poking him with different things didn’t sound appealing and the fact that his mother is going with him didn’t help.

:::

For the next few days Bilbo’s days were pretty much the same. He got up. His mother would prepare him breakfast. Then he would go to school. After school he would work for a few hours at the grocery store. Then he would go home, do his homework and study for the next day. He was feeling better and his morning sickness almost stopped. He threw up a few more times and that was because the food in the cafeteria smelled really bad.

Thursday came quickly and Bilbo was a little nervous because he knew what was waiting for him in the afternoon. As expected, Belladonna was waiting for him at home after school. They took an hour bus to the doctor and with every minute that passed Bilbo was becoming more and more nervous. He wished that Bofur would be here with him, he would know how to calm him down.

He almost lost his consciousness when they stepped into the waiting room that was full with women who were heavily pregnant. He never felt so embarrassed in his life and he couldn’t imagine how his mother must have been feeling, bringing her pregnant underage son to a doctor.

He could feel all the eyes in the room on him, judging him, and his mother and at that moment he wished he could disappear. Luckily for him he was given the possibility to escape the waiting room at least for a couple of minutes when a nurse called his name.

“Bilbo Baggins,” she called and when he stood up she smiled at him. “Come with me dear.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you think that I just destroyed Bilbo's life, you have no idea what I have in store for him.
> 
> Thank you all for your comments, they really keep me going. Keep posting them :)


	4. Chapter 4

“Come with me dear.” _Gladly._ The nurse invited him in and closed the door. “You don’t need to be so nervous, I don’t bite,” she smiled. _I know you don’t, but if haven’t noticed I’m not having the time of my life here._ She handed him a plastic cup. “There is bathroom, I need you to fill this up. I can get you some water to drink if you like. Once you are done, put it here,” she pointed to a tray, “And then come to me and I’ll take some of your blood.”

Bilbo did as he was told. The nurse was nice to him and when she took his blood he hardly felt a thing. After that she led him to the doctor’s office. “Wait here, the doctor will right with you. I’ll go get your mother.”

His mother quickly joined him in the doctor’s office, but they still had to wait another fifteen minutes before the doctor came in.

“I’m sorry that you had to wait so long,” said the doctor. “Nice to meet you I’m Dr. Smaug.” He first shook Belladonna’s hand and then Bilbo’s trembling hand. “Courage young man,” smiled the doctor, “It’s not the end of the world. Why don’t you have a seat,” Dr. Smaug offered.

“We did some test and they showed that you indeed are pregnant.” _Good job Sherlock._ “I have to ask. Was this pregnancy planned?” Bilbo shook his head. “Okay then. Know that I had to ask this only because I meet a lot of different people, with different beliefs and religions. Have you considered terminating this pregnancy?”

Before Bilbo could say something his mother answered for him. “We have and it’s not an option.” _We didn’t but I agree it’s not an option._

Doctor wrote something in the file before asking another question. “When did the intercourse occur?” Bilbo turned red at his question. “I know you are not comfortable talking about this, but I think you know that male pregnancies are different, there is a high chance of pregnancy if you have unprotected intercourse.” The doctor looked expectantly at Bilbo.

“The 12th of June,” managed to mumble Bilbo and the doctor quickly wrote it down.

“Did you give your consent to engage in it?” carefully asked the doctor because Bilbo looked rather uncomfortable sitting there.

Bilbo nodded in response.

“Did the protection fail or you didn’t use it all? I apologize once again, but this is standard procedure and I have to ask you because you are underage.”

“The last one,” mumbled Bilbo.

“And… we are done with embarrassing questions. Like I said they are necessary if you want to force the other father to acknowledge this baby as his. Sometimes it gets ugly during the last weeks of pregnancy and that’s why we do it early to avoid unnecessary stress later,” doctor Smaug explained.

“So let’s talk about the reason you are here, shall we?” He was talking to Bilbo and completely ignoring Belladonna. “You are pregnant, that means that from now on you are not responsible only for your life but a life of another being. I understand that this is hard to accept for most of the teenagers but I’m convinced that you understand it due to the fact that you are here with your mother, approximately nine weeks pregnant. Would you believe me that I get to meet most of teenagers in their third trimester? You are a nice change, believe me.” Bilbo forced a smile. _Lucky me._ “Were you experiencing any symptoms? Nausea, dizziness…”

“I had a headache for a couple of days, then I started feeling dizzy and for the last few weeks I’ve been throwing up at the smell of food.”

“But it’s getting better,” quickly added Belladonna.

“It should stop completely in the next few weeks. I sent you blood for analysis so that the next time we see each other we will be able to discuss your diet and maybe give you some prenatal vitamins, it all depends on the results. Let’s talk about your baby for a moment. While your baby is still extremely small, he or she is now ready for rapid weight gain. The baby is beginning to look more like a person and is about the size of a grape, measuring a little over one and a half inch. What this means for you. The hormones in your body are causing changes and preparing it for the baby. This may cause some trouble sleeping so if you are having problems sleeping you might want to consider changing your sleeping position. A warning for the parents,” Smaug offered a smile to Belladonna. “Mood swings are about to start so there is a big chance he will become an even more rebellious teenager. Try to take everything as calm as possible. You,” he turned back to Bilbo, “Will start feeling more bloated and you will slowly start gaining weight, but there is no need to worry over it because weight gain it’s completely normal thing so try not to stress yourself over it. I would recommend slowly increasing the intake of water during the day. That’s about it for now. Do you have any questions?”

Bilbo shook his head.

“I would like to talk to you about a few things without your mother present,” he turned to Belladonna, “If she agrees of course.”

“I’ll wait for you outside,” she told Bilbo and left the office.

“Finally she is gone,” Smaug tried to lift up the mood, but he didn’t succeed. Bilbo was still glued to his seat.

“You don’t look happy about being pregnant. I understand that this is not something you have planned for and that it probably destroyed all of your plans for the future.” He sighed. “Do you wish to carry this baby to term?”

“Yes!” Bilbo quickly answered. He didn’t understand why everyone was asking the same questions over and over. He wanted to keep the baby.

“Are you sure your parents are not forcing you to keep it?”

“I want to keep it. It’s mine.”

“I’m happy to hear this. Know that if you ever need anyone to talk to you I’m always available for all your questions, concerns or if you just want to talk, don’t hesitate to call. I’ll give you a note for your physical education teacher so you’ll be excused from the class. I wouldn’t normally oppose practicing sports so early in the pregnancy, but yours is a little different and that’s why I’ll advise you to exercise lightly. Try to go out, take a walk, you are not an invalid, but try not to push yourself to the limit.”

“Thank you.”

“Don’t need to thank me. It was a pleasure to meet you Bilbo,” he offered him his hand. “I’ll see you in a couple of weeks.”

Bilbo shook his hand and left the office.

The bus ride home was, as expected, wrapped in uncomfortable silence. Bilbo didn’t feel comfortable talking about what happened with Thorin in front of his mother. He knew that she wasn’t going to judge him and that she knows how babies are made but that doesn’t mean he wanted to discuss this part of personal life with her. Talking with his dad was little less awkward but he still wasn’t happy to discuss it with him.

He was fourteen when his father gave him _the talk_. He has never seen his father so nervous when he came into his room that day. Bungo was having trouble explaining it to Bilbo but at the end he managed to pinpoint the most important things. Bilbo couldn’t help himself but to burst out laughing when his dad finished his in advance prepared speech. His dad apparently forgot that he was going to health class and that the _mechanical_ part of sex has already been explained to him in school. After that was over they were able to talk like man to man and it wasn’t awkward anymore. Bungo advised his son not to have sex if he didn’t feel ready and he told him that there is nothing wrong if he decided to wait until he is older and more emotionally mature. Before he left his room he gave his son a box of condoms but also told him that he would be very happy if he decided to wait at least a few more years.

He did wait a few more years but not as many as Bungo has wished for.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I have a confession to make. I have no idea what I’m writing about. I Googled most of the stuff and the rest I just make up as I write the story. I hope it makes sense. 
> 
> I would like to thank you all for reviews/comments. I like reading them and they really make my day. I also want to apologize for not replying to them, but I don’t want to spoil things for you. I think that all your questions will be answered soon. 
> 
> Short… I know, but I promise you another chapter tomorrow or maybe later today.


	5. Chapter 5

“So, how was it,” asked Bofur when he suddenly appeared next to Bilbo’s school locker.

“How was what?” asked Bilbo while going through his locker in search of a book.

“At the doctor,” explained Bofur. “How was it? Are you really… You know…”

Bilbo closed the locker before answering. “Yes.”

“I’m confused now. Was this a happy yes or unhappy yes?”

“I don’t know,” exploded Bilbo. “Stop asking me all these questions!”

Bofur froze at his friend’s tone. Bilbo never talked to him like that even if he was angry.

“I’m sorry,” quickly apologized Bilbo. “I didn’t mean to snap at you like that. I’m just tired because I’m having trouble sleeping. I have to work every day and then when I finally come home there is a ton of school work waiting for me. I really don’t have the patience to answer all of your questions.”

“I understand,” sighed Bofur.

“No you don’t understand,” exploded Bilbo once again but quickly calmed down when Bofur flinched at his tone. “You’re not pregnant, you don’t understand. You have no idea how annoying it is when people ask you questions all of the time. When I come home from school my mother plays a twenty questions game with me. And if I don’t answer them she doesn’t leave me alone,” complained Bilbo.

“She just worried about you.”

“I know,” sighed Bilbo and rubbed his face in his hands. “So what did you want to ask me?”

Bofur was unsure if he should ask the question when he managed to piss Bilbo off so quickly, but when Bilbo offered him a reassuring smile he decided to take a risk. “I wanted to know how the visit went. I haven’t seen you in a week.”

“I know and I’m sorry for that but I’ve been busy. It wasn’t life changing if that is what you are asking. He asked me a lot of inappropriate questions and for some of them I sure were not even necessary -“

“What did he ask you,” interrupted Bofur and Bilbo sent him an annoying look. “Sorry.”

“He asked me when it happened and if I agreed and if we used protection. Don’t you think this is kind of a dumb question? I’m pregnant doesn’t that mean that something went wrong with protection? Why is it so important to know how it was done? I had sex…” Bilbo trailed off because some of the students turned in his direction after speaking so loudly. Bilbo continued, but this time quietly. “I had sex and I got pregnant. End of story!”

“I don’t know what to tell you. I’m not a doctor.” Bofur answered. “Speaking of the doctor, how was he?”

“He’s strange. I don’t trust him. He was trying to be nice but all of the time I had a feeling he was hiding something.”

“Did you do an ultrasound?”

“No. I had to pee in a plastic cup and the nurse took my blood and then we talked. Well, he talked. I just listen for the most part.”

“What did he say?”

“He told me few things about the baby,” Bilbo was whispering now, “And some things about how my body is going to change and that’s about it really.”

“When do you have the next appointment?”

“Next week,” muttered Bilbo. “We have to talk about my diet and my blood results.”

Bofur looked at his friend who apparently wasn’t very keen on going back to the doctor. “You don’t look happy about it. You said that you want this baby healthy, doesn’t that mean that you have to listen to the doctor’s orders?”

“I’ll do everything for this baby, but I still don’t like or trust that doctor. I think he’ll do an ultrasound the next time we see each other.”

“See. Isn’t this something to be looking forward to?”

For the first time since their conversation started Bilbo smiled. “I guess it is.” Bilbo couldn’t stop smiling. “I’m going to see my baby. Bofur, I’m going to see my baby!”

Bofur turned around and saw that a lot of students were staring at Bilbo. “Yeah, it’s amazing, but try to keep it down a little.”

Bilbo stopped and frowned. “Oh, so now you are not happy! Why did I even bother talking to you?!” said Bilbo and stormed away.

“No, wait, I’m sorry,” called Bofur and ran after him. Talk about mood swings thought Bofur and tried to catch up with his friend to calm him down. This is not going to be easy. He would have to be very patient with Bilbo and careful what he will say or ask around him. It will be hard but he will do it, because no matter what, Bilbo was his friend and he wasn’t going to leave him alone.

:::

Bilbo didn’t even notice how moody he has become until his mother pointed it to him during dinner. Of course he exploded immediately and left the table. No one had the right to tell him that he’s moody. What kind of accusation is that? He was angry and annoyed at everyone because they all were intruding in his life. Even if he was pregnant they had no right to do that.

Bofur was the only one who stopped asking all these stupid questions. He was always right next to him and only spoke when Bilbo asked him something. That was how Bilbo saw it. For everyone else Bofur was like a pet, who followed Bilbo everywhere and was too afraid to speak because there was a high chance that Bilbo’s mood will suddenly change and he will start yelling at him.

In the grocery store Belladonna walked on egg shells around her son. Bilbo usually had no problem doing any work at all, he was happy he was able to help. But for the last few days he didn’t agree to anything without sulking first, so Belladonna decided it was best if he worked on the cashier. He was able to sit there and the store didn’t have a lot of customers so he would have to work that much and that would give him less opportunities to complain.

For the first few hours Bilbo enjoyed working as a cashier. Only few people entered the store and because of that he was able to do some school work while waiting for the customers. He was so caught up in the book he was reading for history class, he didn’t even see a familiar figure enter the store.

“Khmmm,” someone cleared the throat.

Bilbo startled and dropped the book he was holding. He quickly picked up the book and then looked up only to see Thorin standing right in front of him. Bilbo was frozen on the spot.

“You work here,” Thorin observed when Bilbo didn’t move for a minute.

Bilbo just stared at Thorin for another minute before he tore his gaze away from him and slowly reached for the few things that Thorin put in front of him. “Yes,” he whispered.

“Don’t you go to school or something?”

“Yes.”

“Is yes the only word you know?”

“Yes. No I mean no. I can speak,” Bilbo quickly corrected his mistake. _I’m not going to faint. I’m not going to faint. I am NOT going to faint._

“I saw you collapse in the hallway the other day,” said Thorin. “Was everything okay?”

“Yeah, I just forgot to eat breakfast that day,” lied Bilbo.

“Really? You don’t look like a person who just forgets to eat. You are all puffy and glowing.”

“Thanks,” frowned Bilbo at the obvious insult Thorin just threw at him. _Asshole. You think you are better than me? Let me tell you this: YOU ARE NOT!_ “Would that be all or do you need anything else?”

“That’s all,” said Thorin and gave him a credit card to pay with.

 _Of course. Only rich people come to buy flour, a box of eggs, deodorant – oh, I know this smell, it smelled so good that night, but now I can’t stand it, I hate it- few energy drinks, a toothbrush… Okay STOP! You are stalking him. Why does it matter what he bought. It’s his life and his money, leave him alone._ “Here you go,” said Bilbo and returned him the card. “Thank you for buying here, please come again.” _Why suddenly this sounds so stupid. It sounded okay for the last few customers I had.”_

Thorin eyed him for a second before he collected his purchased goods. “Thank you,” he said and walked out of the store.

Bilbo just collapsed back into his chair. _Thank you. Thank you? Thank you!!! I hate you so much right now you can’t even imagine. I hate you. I hate you. I hate you._ He gently rubbed his non-existent belly. _I don’t hate you. I love you. You are my baby and I’m going to love you forever, I promise. I just hate your daddy for being an asshole. But I love you._ Bilbo stopped his ministrations for a second. _Cross that out. He’s not your daddy, I am. He’ll never find out that you exist. But don’t worry I’ll love you for both of us._

It took Bilbo the rest of the day before he was able to put the encounter with Thorin out of his head. He wasn’t going to be afraid of Thorin anymore. There was no reason he should be. If it was one thing that Bilbo was sure of was that Thorin will never figure out that the baby is his. He was too ignorant to notice something like that and too stupid to calculate the date of conception once Bilbo gives birth. At least that was what Bilbo believed.

Everything was fine for the rest of the day. He worked for a few more hours before going home to finish the remaining school work and help with the dinner.

“I was invited to a birthday party,” announced Frodo during the dinner and looked expectantly at his parents. But when they didn’t answer he continued. “I want to go.”

“I know you do,” said his mother and stood up from the table to clean her plate.

“So can I go?”

“I’m sorry sweetheart, but right we cannot afford it.” It was a tradition that when one of their kin had a birthday he or she gave gifts to his guests. But it was different for other people and if Frodo was invited he was expected to bring a gift and right now they were short on money because Bilbo’s doctor was an expensive one.

“Why not?” whined Frodo and Bilbo’s heart clenched at his word. His brother had no idea that he was the reason his parent aren’t able to afford him going to a birthday party. They were trying to save money on everything they could. “It’s just this once. I promise I won’t ask for another one at least for a year. I promise.”

“I’m sorry sweetheart, but you really can’t go.”

“Why not?” demanded to know Frodo and before Belladonna could answer him Bilbo spoke.

“Because I’m pregnant.”

“What?” Frodo eyes almost popped out. At the age of ten he knew how babies were made and the fact that his brother was pregnant came to him as a surprise.

“I’m pregnant,” repeated Bilbo and turned his attention back to the food in front of him.

“You can’t be pregnant! You are seventeen!”

“Well he is,” interrupted Bungo before all the neighbors would be able to hear Frodo’s yelling.

“But how…”

“He had unprotected sex and he ended up pregnant,” sharply answered Bungo. “Here is a lesson to you what happens if you don’t use condoms.” Bilbo flinched at his father’s harsh words. “Sex is something you have to be ready for. You have to be mature enough before you have it or something like this happens!”

Bilbo swallowed hard at his father’s words.

“Bungo!” exclaimed Belladonna.

Bungo took a deep breath to calm down a bit. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to be blunt, but I had to speak my mind. I’m still having trouble accepting the fact that my smart and talented son, who had every option open to have a successful life, ended up pregnant.” He sighed. “I’m sorry.” He stood up and left the table.

Bilbo, Frodo and Belladonna remained frozen in the kitchen for a couple of minutes after Bungo stormed off.

Frodo looked apologetically at his older brother. “I’m sorry. I didn’t know.”

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault, it’s mine. I should be the one apologizing to you –“

“No! It’s fine. I understand.” Fordo squeezed Bilbo’s hand and left the table.

Now that Frodo knew Bilbo felt really guilty about destroying not only his life but the life of his family. He wanted to help Frodo because he didn’t want him to feel the burden he was feeling.

He knocked on Frodo’s door and when he didn’t answer he decided to enter. Frodo was lying on the bed with his headphones on listening to the radio. Frodo’s room was smaller than Bilbo’s but even Bilbo’s room wasn’t that big. They were happy they didn’t have to share a bedroom and that’s why neither of them complained.

Bilbo sat on Frodo’s bed and pulled the headphones off his ears. “Hey.”

“Hey.” Frodo looked at his brother unsure why he came to his room. “Do you need something?”

“No. I came to apologize. It’s my fault that everything has been chaotic in this house for a couple of weeks now. I’m pregnant.” Bilbo forced a smile.

“You really don’t have to explain anything to me-“

“But I want to.” Bilbo sighed. “Look, it’s my fault you can’t go because the doctor is very expensive and I need all the money I can get if I want this baby to live.”

“I know that. I know that male pregnancies can be difficult and dangerous. I don’t mind giving you the money. I know you need it. I want you to be safe.”

“Thank you.” Bilbo squeezed Frodo’s hand. “I have been working at the grocery store for the last few weeks and I earned some money. I talked to mum and she allowed me to give some of it to you so you can go to the party.”

“You don’t have to do that-“

“I want to,” interrupted Bilbo. “I want you to go and have fun. Take it as my way of apologizing to you because the next few months will be crazy.”

Frodo launched himself to Bilbo’s embrace. “Thank you so much. Thank you, thank you, thank you.”

“No problem. Just try not to do anything stupid,” joked Bilbo.

“I won’t,” promised Frodo. He placed his hand on Bilbo’s non-existent belly. “You are going to have a baby.” They both smiled and Bilbo covered Frodo’s hand. “I’m going to be an uncle! I’m going to be an uncle at ten.”

“Technically you’ll be eleven when this baby is born.”

“How far along are you?”

“This is my eleventh week.”

“Eleventh week? That’s almost like three months!”

“Yeah, almost three months. I have an appointment in two days. I am going to see the baby.”

“That is so cool. Can you bring me a picture?”

Bilbo laughed at Frodo’s enthusiasm. “I’ll bring you one, I promise.” He hugged Frodo. “I’m happy you are my little brother.”

Frodo was a little surprised by Bilbo’s confession. “I’m happy too.” He looked Bilbo in the eyes. “You are not planning to tell him, don’t you?”

There was no point in lying to Frodo; he was too smart to be played. “No.”

“Too bad. This baby could have lived like a king.” He smiled. “Now he is going to be stuck with us,” Frodo joked and Bilbo burst out laughing. “But we’re going to love it more.”

 

Next visit to the doctor came too quickly if you ask Bilbo, but there was nothing he could do about it. He and his mother once again took the bus to get there and once again the ride was boring. Thankfully the waiting room wasn’t as filled as it was the last time they were here. He still felt like an outcast sitting there in a room full with pregnant women. They didn’t have to wait long before he was called in by the same nurse as the last time.

“Bilbo,” she smiled. _I hate it when she smiles._ “Come with me.” She escorted him into the office. “Please take your shoes off and step on the scale.” Bilbo eyes him suspiciously. “We are going to monitor your weight, so you can expect this every time you come here.” He did as he was told and stepped on the scale. It took only a second before the monitor displayed his weight. Bilbo’s eyes almost popped out when he saw the number. _What? I gained five pounds and I’m not even showing anything. That’s not fair._ “By your expression I’m guessing this was not your weight the last time you weighted yourself.”

“No, it was not,” frowned Bilbo.

“Don’t worry about it. It’s completely normal. You will gain even more weight in the next few months.” _Can’t wait._ “You can wait in the doctor’s office while I get your mother.”

This time the doctor has arrived rather quickly. “Hello. It’s nice to see you both again. How are we feeling?”

 _Why do you ask me how WE are feeling when I can only tell you how I’m feeling? I have no idea how the baby is doing. You can try asking it yourself, but I’m not sure you’ll get the answer._ “We are both fine,” answered Bilbo.

“I’m happy to hear this. So let’s get down to the business. I have your blood results. Everything looks normal.” Bilbo let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “I will still prescribe you some vitamins because the baby is almost like a parasite. He will take everything good he’ll find in your body and I want you to stay healthy. There is one thing I would like to discuss with you. Your blood test revealed that your Rhesus factor is negative.” Smaug could see fear in Bilbo’s eyes. “There is no need to panic now. We can control everything but it would help if we would know the Rhesus factor from the other father as well. If it’s negative there will be no problems at all, but if it’s positive we could encounter some problems. We would have to monitor your health closely and give you few injections that are quiet expensive. There’s a big possibility that nothing will go wrong because this is your first pregnancy but I don’t want to take any risks. Do you maybe know the Rhesus factor of the other father,” Smaug carefully asked.

Bilbo shook his head.

“Alright then. We’ll keep a close eye on you and do few more tests.”

“Is there a great risk that something goes wrong if there is a different Rhesus factor between the baby and the person carrying it?” asked Belladonna.

“For the first pregnancy there isn’t. But for the next one there can be. Even this pregnancy isn’t risk free and there can be some complications with both Bilbo and the baby, that’s why I would advise to take the injection as a guarantee that everyone will be okay at the end.”

Belladonna nodded in understanding.

“Okay, let’s move on to the fun part. Would you like to see the baby?”

“Yes,” smiled Bilbo. This was the only part of the visit he was looking forward to.

“Please lay on the table and your mother can sit next to you while I prepare the machine.”

Bilbo did as he was told and laid on the table while the doctor waited the ultrasound machine to turn on.

“Lift your shirt up.” Bilbo obeyed. “This is going be a little cold,” said Smaug and poured a generous amount of gel on Bilbo’s stomach. It was cold and Bilbo automatically squeezed his stomach in.

It took a minute and a few adjustments on the stomach before the doctor found what he was looking for. Bilbo’s heart was racing and it felt like an hour before the doctor turned the screen so that he and his mother were able to see it too.

“Here is your baby. It’s still small but about the right size for eleven weeks. If we… press this…” The doctor pressed a few buttons on the machine. There was a beating sound coming from the device. “We will hear the heartbeat.”

“It’s fast,” said Bilbo in awe while he stared into the screen.

“It’s supposed to be,” smiled Smaug. “Everything looks fine; your baby is developing as it should be. Would you like a picture?”

“Yes, I promised my brother I would bring him one.”

“I’ll get you the picture. In the meantime you can clean up. There are some paper towels.”

“Thank you.”

“I’ll be right back and then I would like to talk to you.” He turned to Belladonna. “Alone, if it’s possible.”

Doctor left the office for a moment and Belladonna turned to Bilbo. “You have a beautiful baby,” she smiled at Bilbo and helped him clean his stomach.

“There isn’t much to see.”

“But there soon will be. I’ll leave you two alone for a moment. Know that I’m only doing this because I trust you.” She placed a kiss on his head. “I’ll wait for you outside.”

Bilbo didn’t have to wait long for the doctor to return.

“Here is the picture of your baby and a prescription for vitamins.”

“Thank you.”

“There is something else I would like to ask you. Can you tell me who the other father of the baby is? I might find his Rhesus factor in his medical files and this would help us a lot with your health.”

Bilbo sighed. “I didn’t tell my parents who he is.”

“I know that. But it would really help. I promise you that I won’t tell them. This stays between the two of us.”

Bilbo thought about it for a minute, weighing all the options. It would indeed be better if the doctor would find out Thorin Rhesus factor. It would benefit his baby. He took a deep breath. He never had to say who the father was this was the first time he would have to say it and that would somehow make it real. “The father of this baby is… The father is Thorin Durin.”

Doctor’s eyes widened at Bilbo’s revelation but he hid it very well. “Thank you for sharing this with me. I’ll try to find everything I can.”

He shook Bilbo’s hand and escorted him out.

This was interesting information he just received. The eldest heir of Durin sired a baby. This baby would be the new heir of the Durin fortune if Thráin allows the baby to live. This information was worth a lot of money. He could tell Thráin about the baby. He would probably pay a lot of money either to help the baby or to kill it. But there were also enemies of the Durin family. They would also pay a lot of money for information like this. It wasn’t important to whom he sells the information. The important thing was that the baby Bilbo was carrying was worth a lot of money.

He picked up the phone. After a few rings someone answered.

“Yes.”

“Smaug here. Pass me to your boss. I have some information he might be interested in.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hello everyone! Here is a new chapter, as promised. It's longer than the rest so I hope Lexi (FF.net) is happy with it :)
> 
> I would also like to thank Guest03 (FF.net) for your wonderful idea. I did some research and I have to admit that at the beginning I didn’t understand a lot of what I was reading. I wrote it the way I understand this disease works, I hope I got it right, if I didn’t let me know and I’ll fix it…somehow XD
> 
> Thank you all who are reading and leaving comments. I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter. 
> 
> I don’t know when I’m going to post the next chapter because my other fiction deserves an update too and it’s a big time consumer, but hopefully you’ll get an update soon because form now on this is going to get interesting.


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> PLEASE READ END NOTES!

Bilbo was searching like a lunatic for Bofur in the school. He needed to find his friend and he needed to find him fast. News like this just cannot wait. It took him almost twenty minutes before he was able to find him in the mass of people that were in the school hallways. He didn’t actually see him, but he saw his brother Bombur and he knew that Bofur was around there somewhere. He passed the crowd as quickly as he could to reach his friend.

“Bofur,” Bilbo sighed when he saw him. “I’m so happy to find you. You have no idea how much time I spent looking for you.”

“Really?” smirked Bofur. “How much?”

“Hours,” over-exaggerated Bilbo.

“That much time?” teasingly asked Bofur.

“Not really, no,” answered Bilbo plainly. “That’s not important right now. I need to show you something that’s why I was searching for you.”

“Is it good?” asked Bofur.

“It’s the best thing you’ll ever see. Trust me,” excitedly explained Bilbo. He started pulling Bofur down the hall and to the nearest bathroom. He was about to explode with excitement and Bofur didn’t miss that. Whatever his friend was about to show him, has got to be very important. They entered the bathroom and waited for a couple of minutes so that everyone cleared out and Bilbo locked the doors. Bofur eyed him suspiciously when Bilbo threw his school bag on the floor and started to pull his shirt up.

Bilbo pulled his shirt up so that his stomach was exposed and then turned to the side to get Bofur a better look. “Well?” Bilbo asked. “What do you think?”

Bofur was quiet for a few seconds, unsure what he was supposed to answer. “What am I looking at,” he carefully asked because he didn’t want to upset Bilbo.

“It’s the baby bump,” Bilbo gestured to his flat stomach. “Can’t you see it?”

“Not really no,” Bofur answered too quickly and Bilbo frowned.

“Are you all people blind?” asked Bilbo and pulled his shirt back down. “You are the fourth person I have shown it today and just like you everyone else said that they don’t see it.”

“There is nothing to see,” reasoned Bofur. “You just look a little bloated. This is far from baby bump.” Bofur wished he could take back the words he said the moment he told them.

Bilbo’s expression changed and he looked like he was about to cry and Bofur quickly pulled him into a hug. He was relieved when Bilbo didn’t back away from him. “There is a bump,” silently cried Bilbo. “You just don’t see it.”

“It’s hard to see it for us because last week when you invited me for dinner you looked like you were about to strangle your mother because she smiled at you when you filled your plate for the third time,” explained Bofur.

“I was hungry,” whined Bilbo but still didn’t let go of Bofur’s embrace.

“I wasn’t saying anything. But it’s hard for us too. You complain how you gain weight and how that is not fair because you don’t show anything and the next day you are all happy about your bump.”

“But it’s there,” cried Bilbo and pulled away from Bofur who reached in Bilbo’s bag to get a handkerchief to wipe away the tears.

“The baby is here and I’m sure that it won’t take long before everybody will be able to notice it.”

“I know. I just wanted to share this with everyone.”

Bofur smiled. “I’m happy you did. Come on, let’s go to class. You already skipped physical education if you skip some more the principal will call your parents.”

“I wasn’t skipping anything,” explained Bilbo. “I’m excused. The doctor said I don’t have to go and wrote me a note.”

“I bet you are excited, now that the doctor basically wrote you the permission to sit all day and read books,” teased Bofur.

“I don’t sit all day and read books,” exclaimed Bilbo. “I go to work every day after school, thank you very much.”  

Bofur just smiled at him and gave him the school bag, before he dragged him to the class.

:::

Bilbo was now twelve weeks pregnant. He was excited about it and terrified at the same time. One third of the pregnancy was behind him. Morning sickness has stopped and he was getting his appetite back. He was slowly gaining weight and sometimes when he looked into the mirror he pictured himself with a large belly. Some days he had a feeling that the bump was already seen, the other days he had a feeling he was just fat. It really depended on the day.

After his encounter with Thorin in the grocery store he was a little worried how Thorin will react when he would see him in the school halls or on the parking lot where Thorin had his car parked. Bilbo had to walk pass him every day to get on the bus after school and Thorin never said a thing or even looked at him. It appeared that Bilbo was invisible for Thorin. It didn’t bother Bilbo that much that Thorin ignored him, but he couldn’t help to feel used. The only time he got Thorin’s attention was when he slept with him. The fact that he was still in love with him didn’t help with these feelings. No matter how much he tried to hate him, he just couldn’t. No matter how much Bilbo fought against these thoughts and feelings he couldn’t get rid of them. The truth was that Thorin was the father of the baby and there was nothing Bilbo could do to change that.

:::

It was a few days before Frodo’s eleventh birthday and Bilbo just entered his fifteenth week when he first thought about the doctor and the fact that he told him that Thorin was the father of the baby. The doctor didn’t call him and Bilbo didn’t know if he should take the silence as a good or as a bad sign. He was just hoping that everything was alright with the baby.

In a few days his little brother will be eleven years old and Frodo would bring them little presents. There wouldn’t be a big birthday party like Frodo silently wished for but it would be just a quiet family dinner. If he could work for an hour or two more every day until Frodo’s birthday then he could take that afternoon free and he could make him a cake. He knew that it would make Frodo really happy.

He was, like always, working in the grocery store after school that afternoon. He was ordered to put some things back on the shelves. It wasn’t heavy physical work and he was happy to do it, although he had to admit that sitting behind a cashier and reading a book didn’t sound so bad either.

“Hello,” someone said behind his back and Bilbo almost dropped a jar of pickles he was holding. He turned around only to see Thráin Durin standing behind him.

This doesn’t look good, thought Bilbo. He must stay calm, nothing bad could happen. Thráin Durin was just here to do some shopping and nothing else. “Hello, Sir,” Bilbo greeted with a trembling voice. “How can I help you?”

Thráin smiled at him, but it wasn’t a genuine smile. No, this was more like _I am so happy you asked, now I can slowly kill you_ smile and it sent shivers down Bilbo’s spine.

“Yes you can. I would like to talk to you,” said Thráin not once dropping his smile. “Perhaps we can go somewhere private.”

Bilbo turned white. “I can’t go anywhere right now. I’m working.” He went back to putting jars on the shelves.

“If you prefer we can talk here if you like,” offered Thráin.

Bilbo stopped for a second. “I’m sorry Sir, but I don’t know if there is anything we could talk about?”

“How about if we talk about the fact that you are pregnant?” asked Thráin plainly.

Bilbo heart was beating really fast. He needed to stay calm. “I don’t know what you are talking about,” said Bilbo and avoided eye contact with Thráin.

“Are you sure?” Bilbo didn’t answer. “It’s very noble of you that you didn’t say anything when my son knocked you up. You two did have sex on the 12th of June , didn’t you?”

Bilbo once again stopped and looked at Thráin who was holding a file in his hand. It was the file from the doctor’s office Bilbo noticed. “What do you want from me?” asked Bilbo afraid of what the answer will be.

“I would just like to talk to you. We can talk somewhere private of we can talk here. It’s your choice.”

Bilbo looked at Thráin for a second before he nodded and lead Thráin through storage room, behind the grocery store where they could talk in private.

“What do you want from me,” asked Bilbo they were outside.

“It’s very simple actually. I want to have the child you are carrying,” said Thráin like he was buying bread and not taking away someone’s baby.

“I am not giving you my child!” Bilbo stood up proudly. He didn’t want to show that he was terrified.

“You don’t really have a choice. You are underage and you and your family can barely afford the doctor let alone taking care of the child.”

“We will manage,” hissed Bilbo and wanted to go back inside but Thráin grabbed him by the arm and stopped him.

“I don’t think you understand. I wasn’t asking. I want that child and I will get it. You cannot win against me.” Bilbo recognized the threat in Thráin’s voice.

“I won’t say a thing to anyone,” tried Bilbo. “No one will know who the father of this child is, I promise.”

“I know you won’t tell. You stayed quiet until now, if you had any intentions of telling you would have already done it. You want this child for yourself and I want it for me. You see here our interests collide.”

“Thorin won’t accept the child,” said Bilbo.

“Of course he won’t. He is a child who apparently doesn’t know what the purpose of contraception is. I don’t want this child for Thorin, I want it for myself. I want to raise it as my own child, as Thorin’s brother or sister.”

“I’m not giving it to you!”

“You don’t have a choice!” Thráin raised his voice but quickly calmed down. “You have two options. You can give it up willingly. In that case I’ll pay for the doctor and everything that comes with it. I’ll even force Thorin to give some blood and the doctor will be able to give you the proper treatment. After all, it’s your life that will be in danger if Thorin’s Rhesus factor is positive and not the baby’s.” Bilbo swallowed hard and Thráin’s words. “Or you can choose the second option. You and your family can use all the money for the doctor. You will very soon realize that your parents don’t have as much money as you think they have. I would say it will be enough for a visit or two. Let us hope that you stay healthy because they won’t be able to afford the treatment. And you know what will happen then. Your parents love you very much and they would sacrifice everything for you. You know what will happen then, don’t you?”

Bilbo was paralyzed on the spot.

“They would be forced to sell the small house you live in, you would be forced to work all day and I’m sure that your little brother would find something to do so that he could keep you alive. They would have to make all these sacrifices just because you didn’t accept my offer. And would you like to hear the best part?” Bilbo shook his head. Tears were pooling in his eyes but he didn’t let them escape. “At the end I would still get your baby.”

Bilbo let out a whimper. It was hard to stay strong when someone had a plan how to destroy your life.

“I’ll give you a few days to think about my offer. I’ll be seeing you soon.” Thráin ruffled Bilbo’s hair before he walked away.

Bilbo was able to hear his heart beating in his ears, he started to breath heavily and wasn’t able to stop the tears anymore. He leaned on the wall for some support but wasn’t able to stand for long and he quickly slid to the floor and cried. His mother found him half an hour later. Bilbo still wasn’t breathing normally and Belladonna quickly got worried. She managed to get him home and in the bed. Bilbo calmed down after a warm meal and three cups of tea. His parents asked him what happened, but he refused to tell them and lied that he had a panic attack.

He didn’t tell anyone about the conversation he had with Thráin and his demands. He was worried for the next few days that Thráin will suddenly show up and demand his grandchild but luckily he didn’t and Bilbo put the incident behind him and took it as an empty threat from Thráin. Maybe he was just afraid that Bilbo will tell that the baby was Thorin’s.

:::

Frodo’s birthday was a pleasant affair. Bilbo got a small rattle for the baby from Frodo. It was the first gift he got for the baby and he couldn’t be happier about it. He spent the entire afternoon making Frodo’s cake, but it was worth it.

After dinner Belladonna cut the cake and everyone got a piece. They were comfortably sitting in the living room eating the cake when the doorbell rang and Bungo went to open the door. Bilbo thought it was a little strange that someone would come and visit them at this strange hour, but he didn’t move and continued to eat his cake.

A few seconds later Bungo returned to the living room but he wasn’t alone.

“Good evening everyone,” greeted Thráin and smiled. Bilbo’s jaw dropped and he stared at Thráin for a couple of minutes with mouth open wide.

“How can we help you Mr. Durin?” politely asked Belladonna.

“He said he wants to talk to Bilbo,” explained Bungo and Bilbo lost all the color from his face.

“Yes, I offered a deal to Bilbo and gave him some days to think about it. Now I want to hear his answer.”

“What deal is he talking about?” asked Belladonna and all eyes in the room were on Bilbo.

“Oh, you didn’t tell them?” asked Thráin and smirked. He was more than happy to do all the explaining. “You see, your son is pregnant because my eldest son knocked him up.”

Now it was Bungo’s and Belladonna’s turn to look at Thráin with their mouths open.

“I told him I want the baby he’s carrying, he just has to decide if he wants to make things easy and hand me the baby without making any fuss or if I will have to call a few people to get it.”

“Now wait a minute,” Bungo stood up from the armchair he was sitting in. “You can’t just come here and demand-“

He was suddenly interrupted by Bilbo. “I accept.”

Thráin smiled victoriously.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey guys!  
> I need to say a few things. I noticed that a lot of you hate Thorin. Please don’t do that. I know that he looks and sounds horrible right now but in reality he is a really nice guy. You just need to give him some time and a few chapters. So please don’t hate him. If you hate someone hate Thráin. He’s the one to blame for everything. He is sick, if you want you can call it gold-sickness, but it doesn’t really matter. The important thing is that he isn’t in his right mind. Also, Bofur is Bilbo’s friend and Bilbo will only see him as a friend, how Bofur will see him in the future you will have to wait to find out.
> 
> This story doesn’t have a beta reader (that’s why there are mistakes) so if anyone is interested, let me know. (If you think about it, it’s a good offer. You get to read the chapter before everyone else does.)
> 
> One more thing. I blame all of you amazing writers out there who post on AO3 and FanFiction that it takes so long for me to write a new chapter because every day I spend hours reading your stories. You are amazing and I love you :)
> 
> Thank you for reading, leaving comments and your support.
> 
> [So now I’m thinking… should I post another chapter tomorrow or should I make you wait a little longer… help me :P]


	7. Chapter 7

Thráin smiled victoriously. “Excellent. I have of course some things to add to our agreement.”

“Me too,” answered Bilbo. “You go first.”

“No, wait a second,” interrupted Bungo, “You can’t just come into our house and start telling everyone what to do! This is my house and this is my underage son you are talking to. He is not old enough to make decisions on his own.”

“I think he is old enough to know what he is doing,” answered Thráin and smirked.

Bungo wanted to protest but Belladonna took his hand and pulled him back. She trusted his son and she prayed to the gods that he knew what he was doing.

Thráin turned to Bilbo who was now standing. “I want you to live with us until this baby is born. My wife thinks it will be easier for you to give up your baby if you know where it’s going to live and with whom.” Bilbo thought about it for a second before nodding and if possible Thráin smiled even more. “I also want you to sign the adoption papers as soon as possible. I was thinking that we could have it done by the end of this week. Of course your parents would have to be present and sign the papers too, but I don’t think that will be a problem.”

Bilbo looked at his parents who were standing right next to him and were waiting for him to answer. “I agree,” said Bilbo and Thráin clapped his hand in excitement. “But not without a few conditions.”

Thráin looked approvingly at Bilbo. “Smart boy; go on, I’m listening.”

“I want you to cover all the expenses that are for this baby. This includes doctor’s visits, birthing classes and any kind of treatment I may need.”

“I already told you I would pay for that.”

“I want to be the one making decisions until the baby is born and that includes choosing a doctor. Also, I want Thorin tested so that I’ll be sure that the baby is okay.”

“You can make all the decisions if you like. And regarding Thorin, he will be tested, I can promise you that. I don’t want anything bad happening to my child.” Bilbo’s heart clenched at Thráin’s last words. He was selling his baby for the sake of this family and the baby itself. “Is that all?”

“No,” answered Bilbo. “I also want you to pay all the money that my parents spent for the doctor and I want you to pay for Frodo’s college.”

“What?” everyone in the room exclaimed except Thráin and Bilbo who were looking at one another.

“Smart boy,” praised Thráin. “You have a deal.” He offered Bilbo his hand and Bilbo eyed him for a second before he shook it and with that sealed the deal. “I’m so happy we have come to an agreement. I will give you… let’s say… half an hour? This should be more than enough to pack your things.”

Bilbo looked at him for a second before he ran upstairs and Frodo ran right behind him. Bungo wanted to punch Thráin really in the face but Belladonna held him back and instead led him upstairs to help their son.

:::

Bilbo wasn’t able to hold back the tears once he entered his bedroom. He just sold his baby. He sold his baby. What kind of monster was he? Bilbo didn’t even try to stop the tears and quickly pulled a small suitcase from the closet and put it on the bed. He knew that Frodo ran after him and he wasn’t surprised when someone hugged him from behind. It didn’t take long before his parents joined them in his small bedroom. They let Bilbo cry for a couple of minutes before Belladonna cupped his cheeks and wiped the tears away.

“Why did you agree to this?”

“Because of what he said,” answered Bilbo and wiped a few tears in his sleeve.

“And what did he say to you?” asked Bungo.

“He said that he will get the baby no matter what.”

“He can’t do that. Only the judge would be able to take it away from us.”

“And you think he wouldn’t pay them so the he would get the baby?!” Bungo wanted to protest but Bilbo continued. “He is right. We cannot afford it. The doctor is very expensive and don’t try to lie to me, I checked. I also know we don’t have that much money. And once we are out of the money, then what?”

“You don’t have to do this,” said Belladonna. “This baby is part of our family. You can’t just give it up.” She was on the verge of crying.

“I’m giving this baby a better life. They are prepared to pay any price for this baby, nothing is too much for them. Even if we somehow get the money for the doctor, what good will it do when neither of us will go to college? At least now Frodo will be able to go and this baby will be able to go to too. I’m sure that we would love it more, but I want this baby to have everything in this world and they can make my wish come true. I trust them enough and I hope they will love this baby like that is theirs.”

“You don’t have to do this,” cried Belladonna and pulled Bilbo into a hug. “You don’t have to do this,” she repeated.

“I don’t want to. I want to keep this baby, but giving it up is for the best. I need you to support me, please.”

Bungo sighed before he pulled his son into a hug. “We support you, son. If that is what you want to do then you have our full support.” Bilbo looked at his parents and they both nodded. “I wish things would be different and that we would keep this baby, but you are old enough to make your decisions and we support you.”

Bilbo smiled. He didn’t want to do this but it was the best possible solution.

“No,” suddenly protested Frodo. “Please don’t do this. Don’t give this baby away.” Bilbo pulled Frodo into a hug. “I don’t want to go to college. I want you to keep this baby and I want you to stay here,” cried Frodo like a little child.

“I won’t be that far away and you’ll be able to see me every day if you like,” soothed Bilbo.

“What if they don’t love the baby?” Frodo asked.

“They will love the baby.” Bilbo’s heart broke when he spoke these words. “They will give the baby all the love of this world. They will love it so much that the baby won’t even miss us,” Bilbo started crying again. He could only hope that what he just told Frodo will be the truth. “Hey, don’t worry. Everything is going to be alright.” Frodo forced a smiled. “Why don’t you help me pack?”

Everyone nodded and without saying a word everyone started to help Bilbo pack. Thráin was right, he didn’t have a lot to pack and even once all of his clothes were in the suitcase he was still able to close it without any difficulties. Bungo took his son’s suitcase and took it downstairs to the living room where Thráin was waiting for them sitting comfortably in the armchair. Bungo wanted to comment but for his son’s sake kept his mouth shut.

“Finally,” sighed Thráin. “I thought you will never stop sobbing up there.”

Frodo wanted to say something back but Bilbo was faster. “We had some things to discuss.”

“That’s great. Can we go now?” Thráin asked rather impatiently.

Bilbo nodded and followed Thráin out of the house where a big black car was apparently waiting for them. The driver took Bilbo’s suitcase and Bilbo said goodbye to his family. He gave his mother a kiss and hugged his dad. The hardest part was to say goodbye to Frodo who was reluctant to let him go, but once Bilbo assured him that he will come to visit him every day if he wanted Frodo finally let him go.

The driver opened the back door of the car for him and Bilbo sat next to Thráin who was busy texting someone to even notice that Bilbo joined him in the car.

:::

The ride to Durin’s mansion was a quiet one. Thráin didn’t even look up from his phone and Bilbo didn’t know how to start a conversation. Luckily for him the ride wasn’t long and after a few minutes the car stopped. Bilbo didn’t know what to do next. They stopped in front of the mansion but Thráin didn’t go out of the car until the driver opened the doors for him. Bilbo didn’t know what to think but got out of the car and the driver gave him his suitcase.

Thráin hurried inside the house without looking up from his phone. Whatever he was doing was really important.

Once Bilbo stepped through the door he was standing in the atrium. Marble floor, a lot of expensive paintings on the walls, a fountain and a staircase that led to the upper floor. It was different from the last time he was here. The last time the atrium was filled with people and none of the paintings were on the wall. He remembered the staircase and how Thorin led him upstairs to the bedroom. He remembered everything but it was still a little different.

He put the suitcase down and took in the sight. He wasn’t happy to be here but he didn’t have much of a choice.

“Oh, you are here,” a woman’s voice called and suddenly she was standing right in front of him. “Hello, my name is Valla. I’m Thorin’s mother. It’s so nice to meet you.” She was nice and she looked genuinely happy to see him. She did not look as scary as Thráin did. “I know you are not happy to be here right now, but I’m sure you’ll come to love it. I’m so happy my husband managed to convince you.”

“Yes, well…”

“Don’t worry about anything. I will help you and together we will get through this,” she offered him a warm smiled and for a split of a second Bilbo forgot why he was here.

“Where are the boys?” asked Thráin.

“Upstairs. Do you need me to call them?”

“No,” answered Thráin plainly. “EVERYONE GET DOWN HERE!” Thráin’s voice echoed through the empty house and Bilbo couldn’t help but flinch.

It only took a few seconds before he heard doors opening and closing and footsteps approaching the stairs. Fíli and Kíli were the first one to come down. Their eyes were showing excitement and confusion. Thorin took his time to get down and in the moment he saw Bilbo he stopped in the middle of the staircase.

“Get down here,” ordered Thráin and Thorin slowly made his way to the group.

Bilbo’s heart was beating really fast. He knew that Thráin won’t stay quiet and will tell everyone why he’s here. Bilbo could only hope that Thorin won’t try to kill him.

“This is Bilbo,” introduced Thráin. “He will be living with us for the next few months.”

“That’s so cool,” said Kíli.

Fíli eyed Bilbo suspiciously before asking. “Why is he staying with us?”

“He is pregnant,” answered Thráin plainly.

“Wicked,” commented Kíli. “You are pregnant. Who’s the father?”

Thráin didn’t say anything but his eyes drifted to Thorin who immediately understood what his father was trying to imply. Twins followed Thráin’s gaze and it took them only a few seconds to put the pieces of the puzzle together.

“Thorin you got him pregnant,” praised Kíli. “Congratulations.” Kíli wanted to pat Thorin on the back but Thorin caught his hand.

“Don’t touch me,” Thorin hissed at his little brother.

“Hey,” protested Kíli and pulled away from Thorin. “Attitude problems. Let’s just hope your child won’t be like you.”

Thorin lost his patience and smacked Kíli on the back of the head.

“Enough!” ordered Thráin. “I’m not in the mood to listen to you. Go do something useful, like studying perhaps. It won’t hurt you if you at least open the books you have,” Thráin told Kíli but it was meant for Fíli too. The twins didn’t have to be told twice and they quickly disappeared.

“Show him to a room,” Thráin ordered Thorin before he disappeared into his office, his wife following close behind.

Thorin and Bilbo were left alone. Thorin stared at Bilbo for a couple of seconds, his face showing no emotions at all. Suddenly Thorin turned around and started walking upstairs. Bilbo didn’t know what else to do but to quickly grab his suitcase and follow Thorin up the stairs. Thorin made a few turns in the labyrinth of corridors and finally opened the door to a room which Bilbo recognized immediately.

“I’m not sleeping here,” he told Thorin.

“Why not?” asked Thorin visibly annoyed. Bilbo didn’t answer him. Thorin thought about it for a second. “For Mahal’s sake. It’s just a room!”

“Yes but I don’t have very nice memories of this room.”

“Oh, grow up already. So what, we had sex on this bed. Stop being such a child and get in.”

“I told you: I’m not sleeping in this room,” repeated Bilbo as calmly as he could.

Thorin took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a second. He needed to stay calm. He closed the door and led Bilbo to another room. He opened the doors and gestured to Bilbo to get inside.

Bilbo stepped into the room he guessed it was a woman’s room. Everything was in lighter colors. There was a lot of pink and the sheets had all kinds of flowers on them.

“Happy?” asked Thorin. Bilbo only nodded and before he was able to turn around and thank Thorin for his help Thorin already closed the doors with a loud thud and left Bilbo alone.

Bilbo sighed and looked around. It was a nice, big room. It was almost the same size as their living room. There was an adjoining bathroom with a large bathtub and a shower. There were all kinds of soaps in the small basket next to the sink and clean white towels. Everything looked really nice, but Bilbo still missed his small room, and his small house and his parents and his little brother. He wanted to sleep in his own bed, but for the next few months this will have to do.

He put the suitcase on the bed and slowly started unpacking his things. The closets in the room were enormous and Bilbo couldn’t understand who would have nor need so many clothes. Once he finished unpacking he changed into his pajamas and brushed his teeth. He turned on the alarm clock and climbed under the covers. He wasn’t tired or anything, but the bed was really comfortable and it didn’t take long before he fell asleep.

:::

The next morning it was the alarm clock that woke Bilbo up. He never had any problems getting up for school, but now he was reluctant to get out of the bed because he didn’t know what the day will bring.

Slowly he got out of the bed and went to the bathroom to use the toilet. Then he got dressed and prepared his school bag before going downstairs. He still remembered where the kitchen was and he had no problem finding it. The kitchen table, where Kíli, Fíli and their mother were waiting for him was filled with food and it smelled delicious. No matter how scared and worried Bilbo was the food still managed to get all of his attention, after all, he was pregnant and hungry.

“Bilbo, good morning,” Valla greeted. “Come and join us.” She pulled out a chair next to her for him. “I don’t know what you like to eat, so we have everything. You can eat whatever you like.”

“Thank you,” said Bilbo and quickly scanned at all the food in front of him. Everything looked delicious and he had a problem deciding where to start. Kíli notice his problem and put a few things on Bilbo’s plate.

“Try this. It’s very good.” Bilbo smiled and started eating. Kíli was right, it was very good. He never ate anything like that.

He noticed that there were two seats empty at the table and he couldn’t help but wonder where Thorin and Thráin were.

“Dad already left and Thorin never eats in the morning,” explained Fíli with his mouths full. Bilbo let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. At least Thorin not eating breakfast was not his fault.

“So,” started Valla, “The file says that you are fifteen weeks pregnant. Is that true?”

Bilbo had to think for a second before he remembered about what file she was talking about. Of course, it was the one from the doctor’s office. He will never go there again if he can say anything about it. Bilbo cleared his throat. “Yes.”

“You did only two doctor’s visits?”

“Yes.”

“Did you get the picture of the baby,” excitedly asked Kíli.

“Yes, I got it last time when we did the ultrasound,” explained Bilbo.

“That is so cool. Can I see it?”

“Sorry, I left it at home. My brother put it on the fridge.” Kíli looked disappointed and Bilbo didn’t want to see him like that. “If you want I can go get it for you,” offered Bilbo and Kíli nodded happily.

“Do you want to visit the same doctor,” asked Valla.

“No, I don’t want to go there. I don’t trust him anymore.”

“I understand. Do you know any doctor you would like to go to?” Bilbo shook his head. “Don’t worry about it. I will make you a list and then you can choose it yourself. We can visit a few of them if you like.”

“Thank you.”

Valla just smiled in return. “I have to go now.” She stood up and kissed Kíli on the head. “I will see you boys for dinner. Try not to destroy the house.”

“We won’t,” promised the twins and smiled at their mother.

Fíli, Kíli and Bilbo finished eating the breakfast and had a lovely conversation until Thorin came in.

“Let’s go,” he ordered.

The twins did what they were told and immediately picked up their bags. “Will you be going with us, Bilbo?” asked Kíli.

Bilbo didn’t know how to answer that question and looked at Thorin. The expression on Thorin’s face told him everything.

“No, it’s okay. I’ll take the bus,” answered Bilbo and picked up his bag.

“There is no need to do that. You can go with us,” offered Fíli.

Before Bilbo was able to say anything Thorin spoke: “He said he’s taking the bus.” Fíli and Kíli wanted to protest but Thorin silenced them with a glare. “Move on, I don’t have the whole day,” Thorin barked and the twins did as they were told and hurried out of the kitchen down to the garage where Thorin had his car parked.

Bilbo was on the sidewalk walking to the bus stop when Thorin’s car drove by and Fíli and Kíli waved at him and he waved back.

:::

When Bilbo arrived at the school Thorin and the boys were already there. Thorin was leaning back on his car surrounded by his usual group of people. Bilbo didn’t dare to pass them to go to school so he took the long way around.

“Bilbo,” Bofur called and ran after him. Not a minute ago he was in Thorin’s company. “How are you?”

Bilbo wondered for a second if Thorin told his friends what happened but he quickly came to the conclusion that Thorin was too proud to say anything. “I’m fine. How are you?”

“Good,” smiled Bofur. “You know, I was meaning to ask you if can come by your house today? I don’t have anything important to do so I was thinking we could have some fun together.”

“I’m sorry, but I can’t.”

“Oh,” Bofur was a little disappointed. “Maybe next time.”

“It will be a little hard,” muttered Bilbo.

“Why? Has something happened?”

“No, I just don’t live there anymore.”

“Did they kick you out?”

“No,” quickly answered Bilbo a little surprise that his friend would even think something like that. “They would never so something like that.”

“Then where do you live?”

“At Durin’s mansion,” Bilbo whispered.

“What?” Bofur’s eyes almost popped out. “How did this happen?”

“Thráin,” sighed Bilbo. One word was more than enough to explain everything. “Please don’t ask me to tell you the details.”

“I won’t.” Bofur was quiet for a second. “So Thorin knows about the baby?”

“Yup.”

“That explains why he is so grumpy today.”

“I thought he was always grumpy,” joked Bilbo.

“He is,” laughed Bofur. “Come, let’s go to class.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I bet you didn’t see that one coming. Now Bilbo and Thorin have to live under the same roof. There will be a lot of tension between the two of them but also a lot of love.
> 
> The response to the previous chapter was amazing and I decided that you deserve another one. I hoped you like it. Feedback is always welcome and the comments really keep me going. Who knows, maybe you’ll get another chapter soon.


	8. Chapter 8

**_“… If we get together we can burn this place down.”_ **

Bofur spend the entire day in school with Bilbo. He had so many questions regarding Thorin and what happened that his friend ended up living with the Durin family, but he knew that his friend wasn’t ready to answer all of his questions. Bilbo had such a great time with Bofur that he completely forgot that he doesn’t live at home anymore. He was like on an autopilot.

After school he went to work and even if his mother was a little surprised to see him she didn’t say a thing. They finished working after a few hours and they went home where Bilbo went through his normal routine of doing homework and helping with the dinner. Frodo was really happy to see him back in the house but he knew that his brother will probably leave in a few hours.

Bilbo joined his family for dinner and for a few short minutes everything appeared normal.

“Did you discuss the contract that we would have to sign,” asked Bungo and interrupted the silence.

Bilbo stayed quiet for a minute before answering. “No. We didn’t even talk. I only talked with Mrs. Durin. She is very nice and she offered to find me a new doctor because I’m not going back to that traitor. Fíli and Kíli were very nice to me, although I feel that Fíli doesn’t like me too much.”

“And Thorin?” asked Frodo. There was no point of hiding it. His parents now knew who the father of the baby was so it only seemed logical to ask about him too. “Did you tell him?”

Bilbo looked at Frodo with pain in his eyes before answering. “No, Mr. Durin did.”

“How did he take it?”

“Like it doesn’t concern him,” answered Bilbo honestly. “Which is okay, I guess. His parents will take care of everything so there is no need for him to worry or to think about the baby. I wasn’t expecting an apology from him, but I did expect some understanding.” Bilbo sighed. “Like I said, he is not concerned because he will never have to do anything with this baby.”

“He’s an ass.”

“Language, young man,” warned Bungo. “Is he mean to you? Because if he is, I’ll go and tell that spoiled brat a few things.”

“No he is not,” defended Bilbo. “He pretends that I don’t exist, so me living there doesn’t really present a problem to him.”

Belladonna had enough of talking about the teenager who managed to impregnate her teenage son. “Enough of this for now. About the doctor, have you decided which doctor you’ll go to?”

“No, not yet. Mrs. Durin will suggest a few good ones and I’ll be able to decide. She said we can visit a few if I want.”

“That’s great. She sounds nice.” Bilbo just shrugged. He didn’t spend a lot of time with her so it was hard for him to comment. “Do you want me to go with you to the doctor,” asked Bilbo’s mother.

“If you want you can come with me. I don’t mind.”

Belladonna noticed her son’s discomfort. He was only saying that to make her feel better when in reality he wanted to go alone. She trusted him, she needed to trust him otherwise this whole thing will end badly. “I was just asking if you wanted some company. I’ll sign you the permission so you will be able to go alone, but if you ever need me there-“

“Or anyone of us,” added Bungo.

“-You can ask us and we will be there for you.”

“Thank you.” Bilbo looked at the clock on the wall. “I should go back. I didn’t tell anyone where I am.”

Everyone stood up from the table. “Do you want me to go with you,” asked his father. “It’s quite dark outside.”

“It’s fine. It’s not that far away. I can go alone.” Bilbo went to the fridge and removed the magnet to get the ultrasound picture.

“Hey, that’s mine,” protested Frodo.

“I’ll give it back to you, I promise. It’s just, Kíli asked me to show it to him.”

“Oh, okay. But bring it back the next time you come home.”

“I will. I think the next time we see each other I’ll be able to give you another one.”

Frodo smiled with excitement and everyone said their goodbyes before Bilbo left.

:::

It wasn’t that far away, but it still took Bilbo a good half an hour before he arrived at Durin’s mansion. He didn’t know any other entrances so he decided to enter at the front door. The moment he closed the doors behind him and turned around to go to his room, he saw visibly angry Thorin coming in his direction.

Thorin grabbed him by the arm and dragged into one of the many study rooms on the first floor. “Hey, let go of me. You are hurting me,” protested Bilbo but that didn’t stop Thorin. No, it only made him angrier and he tighten his grip on Bilbo’s arm. Bilbo was sure that there will be bruises there tomorrow.

“Let go of me,” protested Bilbo once again when Thorin pushed him to a room and closed the door behind them. He looked Bilbo directly in the eyes before speaking.

“Where were you the whole day,” Thorin gritted through his teeth.

Bilbo, who was relieved that Thorin finally let go of him, gently rubbed his arm while speaking. “Why does it matter where I was,” Bilbo answered back, annoyed by Thorin’s tone.

Thorin took a step closer and once again grabbed his arm. “I will not calmly stand there and listen to my father yell at me because you disappeared!”

“I was at home. It’s a few minutes ride from here, that really doesn’t count as disappearing.” Bilbo was slowly getting his courage back. He will not allow Thorin to treat him like that. He pushed him away with enough force so that Thorin let go of his arm. “You were hurting me,” accused Bilbo and rubbed his arm.

Thorin apparently didn’t even hear him because he continued like Bilbo didn’t say a thing. “I don’t care where you were,” roared Thorin. “You accepted the deal that my father offered you and as far as I know you will live with us until that _thing_ is born.”

Bilbo flinched when Thorin called his baby a ‘thing’ but didn’t want to show it. “I know that, that’s why I am here! He didn’t say that I’m not allowed to visit my parents.”

“I don’t care what you do, but I will not be so gentle with you the next time you will leave without telling anyone where you are!”

_You call that gentle? You were hurting me and I did nothing to you, you ass._

“I tried calling you because my father went crazy after he didn’t find you at home, but you didn’t answer your phone,” explained Thorin. Bilbo could still sense anger in his tone.

“You calling me would be really stupid since I don’t have a cell phone.”

Thorin stared at Bilbo for a couple of minutes, processing the information he just received. His face showing no emotions at all. It took Thorin a couple of minutes before he realized that he said something really stupid. He turned around and left the room without saying another word, closing the door behind him with so much force that Bilbo jumped.

Bilbo didn’t know what to think. He stood in that room for a couple of minutes, thinking about what happened. He came to the conclusion that Thráin was paranoid and when he didn’t find him he released his anger on the first person he found, and sadly that person was Thorin. This was one crazy family, Bilbo thought before heading upstairs to get ready for bed.

:::

The next morning the alarm clock woke him up an hour later. His classmates were having physical education and since he didn’t have to attend he was allowed to sleep an hour more than everyone else. He got out of the bed and went to the bathroom. Once he prepared his bag and got dressed he headed downstairs. He expected to be alone at this hour and that everyone already left, so he was very surprised when he found the twins in the kitchen.

“Good morning,” greeted Fíli and Kíli.

“Moring,” said Bilbo and took a seat. The twins were occupied with something that Bilbo wasn’t able to see from where he was sitting. “What are you still doing at home; don’t you have class at this hour?”

“We could ask you the same question,” smiled Fíli.

“Well I’m pregnant so I don’t have to go to physical education,” answered Bilbo. “What’s your excuse?”

“We don’t have class at this hour,” explained Fíli.

“I don’t believe that,” said Bilbo. It only took him a second before he realized what was happening. “You two are skipping!”

“It’s just history,” whined Kíli.

“We are terrible at it,” added Fíli. “That’s why we decided not to go.”

“Won’t your parents be angry if you skip classes?”asked Bilbo.

“They don’t even notice,” explained Fíli. “When we are called to the principal’s office we always find some excuse so we don’t really get into trouble much.”

Bilbo nodded. He never even thought about skipping class, let alone history which was his favorite subject and Mr. Elrond was his favorite teacher. He had a feeling he was his favorite student, but he will never know that for sure. “What have you got there,” asked Bilbo when he once again lost Fíli’s and Kíli’s attention.

“It’s your new Smartphone,” simply answered Kíli.

“What?” Bilbo wasn’t sure he heard right. “When did I get a Smartphone and how do you know it’s for me?”

“Well there was a note on the box that said Bilbo and next to it was an envelope with your name on it. We didn’t want to open the envelope, but we wanted to see the phone. I hope you don’t mind,” said Fíli.

“No, I guess I don’t.”

“You are very lucky, you know. This phone doesn’t come out until next month,” explained Fíli.

“I don’t know how Thorin does it, but he really has to know a lot of people so that he was able to get you this phone. I wish he would give me one,” added Kíli.

Bilbo was sure he heard wrong. “Thorin?” he questioned. “Thorin left this phone for me?”

“I really doubt that our father would charge the battery for you and put Thorin’s number on speed dial,” smiled Kíli. “We added our numbers too so you can call us.”

Bilbo didn’t know what to say, so he just stared at the twins. Thorin got him a new Smartphone that was just… And the phone doesn’t come out until next month. That really won’t make things more awkward between them. He stayed quiet for a couple of minutes before he reached for the envelope on the table that was left for him. He opened it and pulled out a list of probably good and really expensive doctors. He quickly scanned the list. There was one name that caught his eye. It was Mr. Elrond’s daughter Arwen from his first marriage. The moment he saw the name it was decided who his new doctor will be. If Mr. Elrond raised her then she must be as nice and polite person as he is. Bilbo circled the name and put the list back into the envelope.

After a few minutes Fíli and Kíli finally gave him his phone. Bilbo didn’t even know what to do with it. He didn’t have a lot of friends he could text or call. The only time when this phone will be useful is when he will want to talk to his parents.

Fíli and Kíli quickly went through the fridge and put some food on the table. They ate quickly without saying much and before they knew it, it was time to go.

“You are going with us,” said Kíli.

“That’s not really necessary,” answered Bilbo. He really didn’t want to get Thorin angry again.

“I wasn’t asking. It was an order. We have the car and the driver today and you are coming with us,” Kíli took Bilbo’s hand and started pulling him out of the kitchen. Bilbo just smiled and followed him. “There is no way I’m letting you go on the bus when we have the best transportation available.”

The ride to school was fun. The twins were a bomb of energy and they made him laugh all the time. They were really nice to him and by the time they reached school he was able to say that he made two new friends.

They arrived to school a little late and the hallways were empty. Bilbo was never late for school in his life and he felt terrible about it. The things only got worse when they heard a familiar voice of the principal behind them. “Bilbo, Fíli and Kíli,” called Gandalf. “You are late for class.”

All three turned around to meet the principal’s eyes. “Do you have anything to say for yourself?”

Before the twins could find some lame excuse that nobody would believe it Bilbo spoke. “It’s my fault,” he blurted out. Gandalf turned his attention to Bilbo and raised an eyebrow. “I wasn’t feeling very well and they stayed with me. They didn’t want to leave me alone when I was feeling sick,” quickly lied Bilbo. Even he was a little surprised by his capability to invent a lie so fast.

“You were feeling sick,” questioned Gandalf.

“Yes, you know that thing,” Bilbo gestured to his stomach. “Morning sickness is really awful… Especially in the morning. That’s why it’s called the morning sickness.” Bilbo was cursing in his head. What was he talking about? Everything that he said just sounded like the lamest excuse ever.

As strange as it sounded Gandalf obviously bought it. “Hmm, interesting,” Gandalf said to himself. “You two can go to class.” Fíli and Kíli let out a sigh. “You did well by helping poor Bilbo here when he was feeling sick. You can go now.” Fíli and Kíli ran down the hall but not before Kíli mouthed ‘sorry’ to Bilbo.

“Bilbo,” started Gandalf, “You and I will have a lovely chat in my office if you would please follow me.” Bilbo swallowed before he followed the principal to his office. “Have a seat,” offered Gandalf. He was quiet for a few seconds before speaking. “Don’t think I bought your lie, Bilbo Baggins. It was a very good lie and it would have worked if someone else would try to sell it to me.” There was a pause before Gandalf continued. “You don’t know how to lie, which is a good thing, but you lied to me nonetheless.”

Bilbo had a feeling he will be punished for his lying. Even though the principal liked him he knew that this type of behavior was not expected from him.

“I was recently informed of your condition and yesterday I got the call from Thráin Durin who explained to me that you will be living with them for the next few months. I will not ask you to explain to me the details of your living arrangements because I know it’s not easy for you to talk about these things, but know that if you ever need anyone to talk to I’m always available to you.”

Bilbo nodded.

“Now there is something else I would like to discuss with you. As you know Fíli and Kíli Durin are not the best students in this school. That doesn’t mean that they are stupid, because they are not, but it means that they are extremely lazy. They are very bright and if they would focus their energy on something, like history for example, instead of causing mischief they would excel at it.”

“I don’t understand,” said Bilbo.

“It’s actually really simple. You are an excellent student and Mr. Elrond is extremely happy with you, but he is very unhappy with Fíli and Kíli. Your task is quite simple. Help them pass history this year without getting any negative grades and I will put it in your record. It would help you get to college.”

Bilbo thought about it for a second. He knew that there was no chance that he would get a scholarship but it would still help if there was something nice in his record, besides his good grades. “I will try, but I can’t promise you anything.”

“Excellent,” smiled Gandalf.

:::

After the talk Bilbo was allowed to return to class. Bofur was really happy to see him and he couldn’t believe his eyes when Bilbo showed him his new phone.

“I cannot believe that Thorin would give you a phone like that,” said Bofur when they were leaving the school.

“Me neither, but the boys did make a point. It would be kind of stupid from Thráin to put Thorin’s number on speed dial.”

“Bilbo!” called the twins and came running after him. They were out of breath when the caught him but Kíli was still able to speak. “Where are you going?”

“Home,” answered Bilbo. “To your home,” he quickly explained.

“You can come with us and we can give Bofur a ride home, Thorin has a car and he’s waiting for us,” offered Kíli.

“No, I don’t think this is such a good idea. Thorin is waiting for you two, so you should go. I don’t want to make him angry, once was quite enough, thank you very much.”

“Oh, okay.” Kíli sounded disappointed.

“How are you getting home?” asked Fíli.

“We are walking, it’s not that far,” answered Bofur.

“Can we go with you?”

“If you want,” said Bilbo.

“Great, let me just text Thorin that he doesn’t have to wait for us.”

_You can go. We are walking home. –F_

Bilbo knew that Thorin won’t be happy about this, but the boys wanted to go home with him and Bofur and he couldn’t say no to them. After a few minutes they saw Thorin’s car pass them by and the boys waved at the car. Bilbo knew that this will only make Thorin angrier and he feared what will happen when they will get home.

After school everyone left and Thorin was the last person standing by his car. He was angry. Of course he was angry. He waited almost half an hour for his brothers so that he could drive them home. But no… The spoiled brats decided that walking was more fun and decided to go with Bilbo. Now Thorin was left alone in the parking lot. He lost two of his companions and he wondered how many more he would lose in the next few months because of Bilbo. Bilbo Baggins just became his worst enemy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> IMPORTANT POST - PLEASE READ:  
> http://blueberry23.tumblr.com/post/56586997676/the-miracle-of-love-authors-notes
> 
> I'm so sorry that it took me so long to update, but I have spent a few days writing something else and then yesterday when I started writing this I got a nice email for my school only to inform me that I start school three weeks earlier and it killed me. I was supposed to be on vacation for 12 weeks, now it will only be 9 -.-
> 
> I'll be writing this fiction for the next few days. I can't promise you anything but I hope I'll be able to give you few more chapters before I go back to the other fiction for a few days.
> 
> Thanks for reading and leaving comments.


	9. Chapter 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There is a note at the beginning of the chapter. Please read it.

Hello everyone!  
  
I’m sorry you have to read this long note here but after reading the comments/reviews for the last few chapters (especially the last one) I got the feeling that there are some things I need to explain. Firstly, I’m sorry I don’t answer to your comments, but I really don’t want to give anything away. This story is just beginning to develop and everything I tell you could be a spoiler. You are all so nice to me and leave comments for me to read and it’s hard for me not to answer them but I really, really don’t want to give anything away.  
  
A lot of you think that Thorin is s spoiled brat. Here things get a little complicated that’s why I was avoiding saying anything. I agree with you whether you say that Thorin is a bully or that he’s damaged goods, but I know what’s going to happen in the future and I know that Thorin is actually a really nice person, but you are just too impatient to wait and see (not that I blame you) how Thorin will develop.  
I agree with you, Bilbo and his family are perfect; sometimes I get the feeling that they are too perfect. For now they are staying that way but I’m not sure what will happen in the future.  
  
And then we have the problem with Thorin and his family. This is a very dysfunctional family and even if only Thráin is sick it’s affecting the whole family. This is how I see them and it might take some time before you’ll be able to see everyone’s real face in the story. Let’s start with something easy like Fíli and Kíli. They are two, a little spoiled, teenagers who like to have fun. They are not stupid, they are really smart. If they don’t show it it’s because we are in chapter 8. They have a good idea what is happening in their family but they don’t do anything about it (I’ll discuss this later with Thorin). Kíli is very open and he likes Bilbo the moment he steps into their house. They will become great friends and allies. Fíli is a little more reserved when it comes to Bilbo. He is not sure that Bilbo living with them is a good idea but he is willing to accept him especially after Kíli starts dragging Bilbo everywhere with them. He is showing acceptance toward Bilbo and like Kíli he will quickly become one of his best friends.  
  
Then there is Valla. Again, this is how I see her. She knows what her husband is doing, she is aware of everything that is happening but she is too afraid to do anything about it. She loves her children (again, not enough chapters to show it) and she will do anything to protect them. We get to the point where you can ask me why is she accepting Bilbo’s baby so easily and there is a perfectly good explanation which you will get in the next few chapters. She is afraid of Thráin like everyone in the family is. She doesn’t have the strength or will to fight him. She will do everything to protect her children but she will do it secretly so that she won’t upset Thráin.  
  
And now the main reason why I’m writing this, Thorin-Thráin relationship. To say that it’s complicated would be an understatement. As I said before in one of the notes, Thráin is sick and he doesn’t really know what he’s doing. And here comes Thorin into the picture. He is the only person in this family who dares to stand up against him. He hasn’t shown it yet, but he will in the future. Please give him some credit. He has just been told that Bilbo is pregnant. I don’t know how close you were reading the first chapter but Thorin is looking for a condom and Bilbo stops him. Thorin was sure that the Bilbo took care of protection and don’t you think that it’s quite a big shock for him when Bilbo shows up pregnant at his doorstep. And that’s not all. Non of you even thought about the fact that Thorin was not given the possibility to discuss this baby. Everything was arranged by his father and nobody asked Thorin if he wants the baby. He wasn’t really given any choice. He is now forced to live with Bilbo, who is carrying his child which will one day become his brother or sister. I know it’s hard to understand but please try to look from Thorin’s perspective. In the matter of minutes he gets told that he will become a father and that he will never be able to hold his child like one (We don’t know what happened after Thorin showed Bilbo to his room, we don’t know when he talked to Thráin, but we know that the next day he was informed of the deal that Bilbo made with his father). It’s been two days and he still hasn’t come around about the fact that no one asked him anything. He is angry at Bilbo, how could he not be when Bilbo decided to keep the baby a secret. Maybe things would be different if Bilbo said something, but he didn’t and now everyone has to deal with the consequences of Bilbo’s decision.  
  
One more thing. Some of you said that Thorin is ignorant because he didn’t help Bilbo when he fainted and that he was mean to him when they had sex. For the second part I agree, he was a dick no matter how I look at it, but for the first part… Thorin noticed Bilbo faint in the hallway; he did tell him that in the store. It was Bofur who told Bilbo that Thorin walked by without helping him. Are you sure that what Bofur told him was the truth? Because Bilbo fainted and he has no idea what really happened. Bofur is very protective of Bilbo and I’m sure you all noticed that he has strong feelings toward him. Just something to think about.  
  
I’m sorry if some of you feel now that I was trying to prove some kind of point to you after reading this, but this is not personal or aimed at anyone, I was just trying to explain some things. I know I didn’t explain everything but I will try to do it in the future. If you have any questions please ask (comments, reviews, anything really…) and I will try to answer them but I can’t promise you anything.  
  
Thanks for reading and commenting (even unhappy feedback is welcome).  
  
I hope this didn’t put you off from reading the story and I hope to see you at the next chapter.

* * *

 

**“You and I go hard, at each other like we going to war...”**

Bilbo was really happy that when they got back to the house Thorin was nowhere in sight. His car was parked outside so he was definitely at home, most likely staying in his room. The twins and Bilbo came laughing through the door; they really had a good time together. The house was big, but nonetheless Bilbo quickly smelled something delicious coming from the kitchen and Kíli didn’t miss that.

“Hungry?” he asked.

“Starving,” answered Bilbo.

“We should go wash up and then go check the kitchen. I have a feeling that lunch will be served soon,” said Fíli.

“Served?” asked Bilbo. “You actually have someone who serves you food?”

“Cooks, serves, clean,… Nola is very nice, she helps us with everything and she never tells our parents about the parties. She and the driver are the only two people allowed in this house, dad is a little paranoid,” explained Kíli.

“So your mother doesn’t cook?” asked Bilbo and the twins burst out laughing.

“No,” managed to say Kíli. “She tries though.”

“She really does,” added Fíli.

“But she shouldn’t,” said Kíli and the boys started laughing again. “She is trying very hard to give us the ‘real home’ experience and she tries to prepare a meal for us, but it’s never eatable.”

“She helps Nola sometimes –“ started Fíli but Kíli finished the sentence for him.

“-And when she does that we can eat what she prepares.” The boys became serious for a moment. “She really tries you know, but she really isn’t the person to work in the kitchen.”

“My mother always cooks for our family,” proudly explained Bilbo. “She is a really good cook.”

Twins smiled. “Let’s go wash up and we meet in five minutes in the kitchen.”

Bilbo nodded before all three headed upstairs. He was really hungry by now and he couldn’t wait for the lunch to be served. He took the picture he promised Kíli from his bag before going downstairs.

Fíli and Kíli were already sitting at the table waiting for him.

“Here,” said Bilbo and gave Kíli the ultrasound picture. “I promised you the picture.”

Kíli accepted the picture and quickly looked at it. “There isn’t much to see,” he complained.

“It’s a few weeks old. I don’t know what you expected.”

Kíli smiled before he got up and put the picture on the fridge. “I love it.”

“You will have to give it back. I promised my brother that I would return the picture,” said Bilbo.

“Why? I like this picture. Besides, you will get another one in a few days. You can give that one to him. How does that sound?” asked Kíli.

Bilbo though about it for a minute. “Fine, you can keep it. Just pray that my brother doesn’t kill me.” All three started laughing.

Soon Nola came in and brought them lunch. “How are you, boys? Hungry?”

“Starving,” said Fíli before accepting the plate from her.

“Good. I made your favorite.”

“Thank you.”

“Hello,” greeted Nola before giving a plate to Bilbo. “I don’t believe we have met. I’m Nola, nice to meet you.”

“Nice to meet you too,” said Bilbo and shook her hand.

“If you ever need anything, you can find me here or somewhere in the house.” Nola smiled before she realized one person was missing. “Where is Thorin?”

“In his room,” explained Kíli before placing a kiss to her cheek. “You would do me a great favor if you would take lunch up to his room.” Nola eyed him suspiciously. “Please,” added Kíli with puppy dog eyes.

“Fine, but only because you asked nicely. You know I don’t like taking up the food to his room just because he’s too lazy to come down here.” She took the plate and left the kitchen.

“Thorin says, thank you,” called Fíli after her.

“She is nice,” commented Bilbo. “She acts all motherly around you.”

“Yes, if we are extra nice to her she makes apple pie for dessert and she always helps us clean the mess after the parties. It’s hard not to like her,” explained Kíli.

Bilbo smiled before he continued to eat. After lunch the boys went to their rooms to do the homework. Bilbo didn’t have a lot to do and he finished early. He didn’t know what to do. He usually went to work and then helped prepare dinner, but Thorin made it very clear yesterday that he must come home after school and now Bilbo was bored to death. The only books he took from home were for school and he wasn’t in the mood to read those. He lied for a few minutes on the bed before he remembered that he now got a brand new phone which he hasn’t actually explored. He got the phone out of the bag and started playing with it.

It didn’t take long before there was a knock on his door and Kíli barged into his room. Before Bilbo was able to react Kíli was next to him on the bed. Apparently he finished his homework quickly and he needed some company. Not that Bilbo believed his story, but he didn’t want to argue with him. He allowed Kíli to stay with him and Kíli quickly connected Bilbo’s phone with Wi-Fi and filled his phone with different games and applications, most of which Bilbo didn’t need or know how to use.

:::

Kíli stayed with Bilbo until Fíli came to call them that dinner is ready.

“Just a warning,” said Fíli, “Dad is home which means that Thorin will be eating with us and it looks like they were fighting.” Bilbo nodded. “Try to ignore them.”

Bilbo followed the boys in the dining room without saying a word. Thráin was sitting on one end of the table and Thorin on the other one. It looked like they will jump at each other any moment now. Bilbo took a seat next to Kíli and the dinner was served.

“I saw that you chose the doctor already,” started Valla. Bilbo only nodded because his mouth was too full to speak. “I made the call and you can go visit her tomorrow in the afternoon.”

Bilbo swallowed. “Thank you.”

“Thorin, you are going with him,” ordered Thráin leaving no room for argument. “Take the car or whatever you like, just make sure that you are there.” Thorin didn’t say a thing but the glares that were exchanged between him and his father were deadly. “You will do all the tests that are necessary. I want this child healthy.”

“Do you need anyone to go with you?” asked Valla. “I can go or I can call your mother, Bilbo.”

“It’s fine. I already talked to my parents. They said I can go alone.” Valla nodded.

“If you talk to your parents, tell them that you and I will come to visit them in the next couple of days. There is a contract that needs to be signed and also the adoption papers,” said Thráin.

“Adoption papers?” asked Kíli. “You won’t keep the baby?”

“The child will stay with us,” simply answered Thráin. Bilbo didn’t even look up from the plate.

“I had a feeling you wanted this baby.” Kíli sounded disappointed.

Bilbo didn’t have the strength to look up. He knew that everyone was watching him and waiting for him to say anything, but he just couldn’t. He felt tears coming down his cheeks and he used a napkin to wipe them away. “I want to keep it,” whispered Bilbo, barely holding back his tears. “But I can’t.”

“Why not?” Kíli wanted to know.

Bilbo felt tears escape his eyes and he didn’t try to hide them anymore. “Because I have no choice.” Kíli wanted to say something, but Bilbo had enough of everything. “Don’t think I want to be here, because I don’t! I hate being here! I hate the fact that I won’t be able to keep my baby! I hate the fact that this happened because I trusted the wrong person!”

Everyone was quiet after Bilbo’s outburst. They kept thinking who the person that betrayed Bilbo was. Was it Thorin or was it someone else? Only Thráin and Bilbo knew the answer to that question.

There was a long uncomfortable silence before Bilbo stood up. “I’m sorry,” he said before he left the table and run up to his room.

It didn’t take long before he heard the doors of his room open and a few seconds later he felt that someone joined him on the bed.

“I’m sorry,” whispered Kíli. “I didn’t know you will have to give away your baby.”

“It’s not your fault,” said Bilbo and accepted a handkerchief from Kíli.

Kíli was quiet for a few seconds before he spoke again. “Did my dad force you to do this?”

Bilbo looked him in the eyes. “He didn’t force me, I agreed. But he didn’t give me any other options.”

Kíli pulled Bilbo into a hug. “I’m so sorry. I know how my dad can be.” He allowed Bilbo to cry there for a couple of minutes. “Can you tell me what deal you made with him?”

“I give him the baby and he pays for the doctor and for my brother’s college.”

“You could have asked for more,” tried Kíli but Bilbo didn’t smile. “Is the doctor really that expensive?”

“Yes,” answered Bilbo. “I need Thorin tested so that the baby will be okay because my health is in danger too.”

“You could just beat him up and get the blood that way from him,” joked Kíli and Bilbo smiled. “When did you even sleep with him?”

“There was a party during vacations.”

“You will have to be more specific. We had a lot of parties during vacations.”

“The middle of June,” answered Bilbo and turned red.

“Why are you so embarrassed about this? I’m a guy you are a guy we talk about things like that.” Kíli looked at Bilbo who didn’t say anything and avoided eye contact. “No!” exclaimed Kíli with disbelief when he finally understood. “Thorin was your first!”

“Keep it down,” shushed Bilbo. “There is no need for everyone to find out.”

“Why is it so important who hears this? Everyone does it.”

“Have you done it?” carefully asked Bilbo.

“Yes,” simply answered Kíli.

Bilbo couldn’t believe what he just heard. “When did you do it?”

“Last year. With a girl at a party. It was fun.” Kíli smiled at the memory. “How was it with Thorin?”

Bilbo blushed. He really didn’t want to answer but Kíli was so open and honest with him so he felt obligated to give him an answer. “Horrible.”

“That bad, huh? I always knew that my brother doesn’t know what he’s doing.”

“I think he knew exactly what he was doing,” snorted Bilbo.

“That’s not what I meant. Of course he knew what he was doing in the bed. What I meant is that he doesn’t know what to do after. He was never in a relationship with anyone. A person would really need a lot of patience to date Thorin. He is grumpy and moody all the time and he doesn’t know what to do when feelings are involved, he usually freaks out and starts acting like an idiot. I feel bad for the person that Thorin will like. That person will have to go through hell first before Thorin will express his feelings.” Kíli smiled. “I just hope that this wonderful person exists.”

Bilbo started laughing and Kíli felt a lot better that his friend was in a much better mood. He stayed with Bilbo for another hour before he went back to his bedroom.

:::

The next day passed quickly and it was time for Bilbo and Thorin to visit the doctor. Bilbo assumed that he and Thorin will take the car so he took his time and went down to the kitchen to get something to drink.

“What are you doing?”

Bilbo jumped. He didn’t hear Thorin behind him when he was going through the fridge. He closed the door before turning around. “I’m looking for something to drink. I have a feeling that I’ll have to pee in a cup again and to do that I need to drink something first,” explained Bilbo before he started drinking.

“We should go,” ordered Thorin.

“Just a minute, please. I want to finish this.” Bilbo emptied the glass before he put it in the sink. “Thank you for the phone.” Thorin didn’t say a thing. He continued to stare at Bilbo with his arms crossed over his chest.

Bilbo rolled his eyes before he put the juice back in the fridge. There was something different, something was missing. “Hey, where is the picture?”

“In the trash,” simply answered Thorin.

Bilbo’s eyes grew wide. “Why is in the trash,” he asked with disbelief.

“I didn’t like it and I threw it away.”

“That was my picture!” exclaimed Bilbo. “You had no right to do that!” Bilbo wanted to punch Thorin so hard. “I gave it to Kíli and he put it on the fridge. If you didn’t like it you could have just said something!”

“Stop yelling at me,” calmly ordered Thorin. “It’s my fridge and I didn’t want to see it every time I open it  to get something to eat.” _-Stop, just stop. Stop lying to him. You know where the picture is. Just tell him. He’ll understand.-_

Bilbo stared at Thorin with disbelief. “You are a bully, you know that,” accused Bilbo.

Thorin just shook his head and left the kitchen. “Move! I don’t have the whole day,” he called behind.

Bilbo puffed before he followed Thorin out of the kitchen. There was a car parked outside the house and he assumed that Thorin was already waiting for him there. He got in the car only to realize that he was alone.

The car started moving and Bilbo panicked. “Stop! We should wait for Thorin.”

The car didn’t stop. “Don’t worry Master Baggins, Thorin took his own car.” Bilbo let a sigh and he relaxed into the seat. Of course Thorin took his own car. Why in the world would he go with him?

The ride to the doctor wasn’t long, but Bilbo had no idea where he was. He was really happy that he didn’t have to find the doctor alone.

“I have to get Mr. Durin first,” said the driver. “I’ll come for you when I’m done. You will probably have to wait a little.”

Bilbo nodded. “Thank you.”

The moment he stepped out of the car he saw Thorin in the parking lot leaning back on his car with his phone in his hand. He didn’t want to call him so he just entered. Luckily for him the waiting room was empty. There were no judging eyes and no dirty looks sent in his direction. He took a seat and waited to be called in. After a few minutes Thorin came in. He didn’t sit down; he leaned on the wall and continued to play with his phone.

“You should take a seat, we will have to wait a few minutes,” said Bilbo.

“I doubt it,” answered Thorin and at that moment the doors opened and the nurse came out.

“Good, you are both here,” she smiled and Bilbo like the nurse for a change. “Come with me please.”

Bilbo and Thorin followed her in without saying a word.

“Fill this up for me please, while I take your friend’s blood.” She gave Bilbo a cup and pointed to the bathroom. Thorin sat on the chair and she took a sample of blood from him. “Sit here for a minute,” she ordered him. Bilbo returned shortly and put the cup on the tray.

“Please step here so I can measure your weight.” Bilbo nodded and stepped on the scale. The nurse smiled and wrote the new weight down in his file. “Good, you are slowly gaining weight.” Thorin snorted at that and Bilbo sent him a glare. “I’ll check your blood pressure and take a sample of blood and then you can see the doctor.”

She worked quickly and Bilbo didn’t feel a thing when she took the blood.

“Am I done here,” asked visibly impatient Thorin.

“Well yes, but you can-“ the nurse didn’t finish the sentence because Thorin rushed out without saying a word.

“I’m sorry,” apologized Bilbo.

“Don’t worry dear. All first time fathers are nervous. He clearly loves you, so he’ll come around.”

Bilbo wanted to correct her but he decided to bite his tongue. The nurse showed him to the doctor’s office where he left him alone for a few minutes before the doctor arrived.

“Hello,” said a lovely doctor. Bilbo could see the resemblance with Mr. Elrond. “I’m Arwen.”

“Bilbo,” he introduced himself and shook her head.

“How are you?”

_At least she didn’t start with ‘how are we’ question._ “I’m fine.”

“No nausea or dizziness?”

“No.”

She opened the file and quickly scanned it. “Weight is normal. The sugar level is normal. Blood pressure is a little elevated, but I assume that it’s because you are nervous. There is no need to panic, but if the next time you come here the result is the same we will talk about ho to avoid stress.”

Bilbo nodded.

“I see here that the previous doctor prescribed you vitamins. Do you take them regularly?”

“Yes, every morning.”

“That’s good. Don’t forget to take them.” She continued to read. “It says here that your Rhesus factor is negative. We will check your blood again and when I get the results I will call you. We will check Thorin’s blood too and based on the results we will decide if there is any treatment needed. If his Rhesus factor is positive you will get an injection of Anti-D-Immunoglobulin so that you and the baby stay healthy.”

“If his factor is negative there is no need to worry?” asked Bilbo for confirmation.

“If it’s negative then there will be no complications at all.” She typed something into the computer. “Based on the information I have, you had intercourse on the 12th of June, which means that if everything goes according to plan the baby should be born in the second week of March. We’ll check later, with the ultrasound how the baby is doing. Have you done one already?”

“Yes, the last visit I had, we did an ultrasound,” answered Bilbo.

“Have you signed up for prenatal and birthing classes?”

“No. I won’t be keeping the baby.”

Arwen noticed Bilbo’s sad tone. “Yes I’ve been informed. Mr. Durin is requesting all your files so that he can he monitor how the baby is doing.”

“I know. You can give them to him. There is nothing to hide. It’s his baby after all.”

Arwen nodded. She understood how hard this was for Bilbo. “Still, you should go to all the classes. They will tell you what you are allowed to eat and what not. They will answer all of your questions regarding birth and the baby. It will be fun. If you don’t want to go alone you can go a friend. There are a lot of nice people.” Bilbo nodded. “Okay, I’ll sign you up for the classes and they will let you know when they are.” She quickly wrote something down.

“One more thing and then we can the ultrasound. Do you sleep on your stomach, on your back?”

“Sometimes,” answered Bilbo.

“Okay, I’ll write a note to Mr. Durin to get you a pregnancy pillow. It will support your back and your belly when it gets bigger. It will help you sleep on the side and prevent you from rolling on your back. It’s good for the baby because it will force the baby into the right position later on. Some say that it makes labor less painful. It’s very easy to use. You put one end between your legs, the middle supports your belly and the other end supports your back.” She smiled at Bilbo’s horrified expression. “Don’t worry it comes with instruction and you will quickly notice how comfortable is to sleep with it.”

Arwen closed the file and stood up. “Let’s go have a look at your baby, shall we?”

Bilbo did as he was told and laid on the table and pulled his shirt up.

“It’s a nice belly,” commented Arewen. “Small, but visible.”

Bilbo smiled widely. “I knew it was visible, but everyone said that this is not the belly.”

“You should probably show it to a woman. She would tell you that this is not fat, but definitely a belly. Most men don’t notice the bump so quickly.”

Bilbo started laughing. “You are right.”

“It’s going to be a little cold,” warned Arwen before she put gel on the stomach. She moved the probe on Bilbo’s stomach and It didn’t take long before they both heard the heartbeat. She turned the screen around so that Bilbo was also able to see. “This is your baby.”

Bilbo was once again staring at the screen with his mouth open. This little miracle was growing inside him. “It’s bigger than the last time I saw it.”

“It’s growing really fast now. It’s about the right size for fifteen weeks and everything looks normal.”

“It’s beautiful,” said Bilbo but didn’t move his eyes from the screen.

“It is. But it will be even better the next time we see each other.”

“When will I be able to feel the baby move?” Bilbo asked.

“In a few weeks. It’s different for every person, but most of the people describe it as butterflies.”

“And the others? When will the others be able to feel it?”

“They will have to wait a little longer,” smiled Arwen. “I’ll get you the picture. There are some towels so you can clean up.”

She returned a couple of minutes later with the picture which Bilbo quickly put in his pocket. He will give it to Frodo, at least he won’t throw it in the trash.

“I’ll get your blood results in a few days and I will call you. If you will need an injection we will see each other in a week, if not I will schedule an appointment in four weeks time.”

“Thank you,” smiled Bilbo. For once he was happy with the visit. He left the office and went to the parking lot where the driver left him. The parking lot was empty. He checked his phone. One unread message.

                _There were some complications. I’ll be there in an hour._

Great, thought Bilbo. This message was sent ten minutes ago so if he is lucky he will only have to wait fifty minutes. He didn’t know what else to do so he sat down on the sidewalk and waited. This was going to be very long and boring fifty minutes. Before Bilbo was able to finish that thought a car stopped in front of him.

“Get in.”

It was Thorin. “I thought you left,” said Bilbo.

“Just get in,” ordered Thorin.

Bilbo stood up and got into the car. They drove in silence for a couple of minutes. “I thought you left.”

Thorin took a deep breath before answering. “I did.”

“But you came back for me,” smiled Bilbo.

“I didn’t,” answered Thorin plainly.

“But you just said that-“

“Just stay quiet, okay.” Thorin apparently wasn’t in the mood for conversation.

“Thank you, for driving me home.”

“Don’t mention it,” cut Thorin.

Bilbo didn’t know what to do so he pulled the picture out of his pocket so that he could have a look at it again.

“What do you have there?” asked Thorin.

Bilbo quickly put the picture back into the pocket. “Nothing,” he lied.

Thorin just shook his head. He didn’t believe him. The whole ride home Bilbo had a feeling that Thorin wanted to talk to him, to say something to him. Thorin opened his mouth a few times like he was about to say something but not a word came out. By the time they got back to the house Bilbo was really annoyed by Thorin’s behavior. Thorin parked the car in the garage and the headed upstairs.

“Thank you,” called Bilbo, but once again Thorin pretended that he didn’t hear him. Bilbo had enough of Thorin acting like a child. He ran after him and stopped him. “Hey, what’s your problem?”

“What’s yours?!” asked Thorin.

“I don’t have a problem. You are the one who is acting like a child!” Bilbo yelled.

Thorin took him by the hand and led him in the first guest room that they passed by. “Get in,” he ordered. Thorin didn’t give Bilbo any room to argue but he wasn’t mean to him either. He closed the door behind them. There was no need for the entire house to listen to their conversation.

“I am acting like a child!?” question Thorin with disbelief.

“Is it really so hard to be nice to me for just one minute?!”

Thorin growled. “Can’t you stay quiet for a minute?!”

“Why should I? So that you can tell me what to do? No thanks. Once was quite enough and I’m the one dealing with the consequences!”

“Oh, so you are blaming me! Let me tell you this, you were more than willing to participate and you didn’t protest when you followed me into the room!”

“Of course I didn’t. I was drunk!”

“Don’t pretend you didn’t know what you were doing!”

“Don’t blame me! Was it so hard to put on a condom?”

“You said you were safe. I assumed you took care of it.”

“I felt safe with you. I trusted you. I didn’t say anything about protection.”

“Do me a favor, will you. Next time when you have sex with someone, tell that person not to listen to you and use a condom!”

“Trust me, I will. No one could be worse than you!”

“You should try having sex with yourself. Then you’ll know how horrible it can be!”

Bilbo puffed before storming out of the room, Thorin followed close behind. The moment Bilbo opened the door Fíli and Kíli jumped away. It was clear that they were eavesdropping, but they still pretended that it was a coincidence that they were standing there the whole time.

Bilbo and Thorin glared at them for a second before storming each in one direction.

“Insufferable dwarves!”

“Stubborn hobbits!”

Fíli and Kíli stayed there for a minute, processing everything they just heard. There was definitely something between them but only time will tell.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm sorry about the long note, but I really wanted for you to read it.  
> I hope you liked this chapter. It was really fun to write. 
> 
> Thorin and Bilbo had their first fight (first of many). If Thorin is relatively nice in this chapter he won't stay that for long because they haven't discussed everything. There are some things that Thorin lied about, but you will have to wait to find out what really happened.
> 
> I really hope you don't hate me now and I hope to see you at the next chapter.
> 
> b_blueberry


	10. Chapter 10

**“E il tuo sorriso spegne i tormenti…”**  
  
(“And your smile puts away the agony…”)

 

The next morning was awkward for Fíli and Kíli. Bilbo and Thorin had a fight the previous night and the next morning they felt like they have to choose a side. Do they go to school with Thorin or with Bilbo? They decided to go with neither, that way they were on no one side.

In the school Thorin and Bilbo ignored each other like they always did. Up until the lunch break Bilbo was alone because Bofur stayed with Thorin, but during the break Bofur finally left Thorin and joined his friend. Fíli and Kíli came to and the brought Ori with them. Bilbo was enjoying having so much company for lunch. It was the first time he actually had fun during the break and he wanted this to happen every day.

But not all had such an awesome day.

“Thorin,” called Dwalin and approached his best friend who was sitting on a bench looking in the distance.

“Hey,” said Thorin, but he did look at Dwalin.

“Have you seen Ori?”

Thorin was quiet for a minute before answering. “He’s over there.” Thorin pointed at the group that consisted of his brothers, Bilbo, Bofur and Dwalin’s boyfriend.

“What is he doing there? We were supposed to meet here.”

Thorin shook his head. “That,” he pointed at Bilbo, “is Bilbo Baggins. He is living with us now. Fíli and Kíli couldn’t be more excited to be around him.”

Dwalin took a better look at Bilbo. “He is the one that collapsed in the hallway.”

“Yup.”

“So you carrying him to the school nurse was some sort of a charity project or something. I mean, now he is living with you guys.”

Thorin looked at his friend. “What was I supposed to do? Leave him lying there while Bofur nearly had a panic attack. I’m not a monster.”

“I never said you were,” defended Dwalin, “but you usually don’t pay so much attention to someone you don’t like. And now I find out that he is living with you. Tell me what happened.” Thorin remained silent. “Come on,” encouraged Dwalin, “I’m your best friend.”

Thorin sighed before he looked around to make sure no one was listening. “He is living with us because he is pregnant,” Thorin whispered.

“I don’t understand,” said Dwalin.

Thorin rolled his eyes. “He is living with us because I got him pregnant.”

“What?!” Dwalin wasn’t sure if he heard right.

“You heard me,” hissed Thorin, not wanting to repeat himself.

Dwalin thought about it for a second before smacking Thorin on the back of the head. “Are you crazy? Why did you sleep with him? He is underage!”

“Oh, you are the right person to judge! Ori is a few months older than Fíli and Kíli and I never said anything about you sleeping with him.”

Dwalin blushed slightly. “Firstly, none of your business. Secondly, we have been dating for a year before we slept together. And thirdly, we use protection even if Ori can’t get pregnant. You know his kind can get pregnant and you still slept with him!”

“I made a mistake, alright. It’s done; there is nothing I can do.”

Dwalin sighed. “Did he do it on purpose? Is he forcing you to accept the child and provide for it?”

“What? No!” exclaimed Thorin. “If it wasn’t for my father he would never say a thing. He would have kept the child and never tell anyone who’s the father. For some strange reason he wants to keep it.”

“Now he will be able to do so and with your father intervening he will have everything that he wants.”

Thorin shook his head. “He won’t keep the baby. My parents will adopt it and we will pretend that it’s our sibling.”

“Is he crazy? Why did he agree on something like this?”

“He didn’t really have much of a choice,” explained Thorin before adding, “Neither did I.” He stood up and left without saying another word.

Dwalin understood that Thorin needed some time alone so he didn’t follow him. Instead he decided to go talk to his boyfriend. He approached Ori from behind and cleared his throat.

Ori jumped with surprise, but was still very happy to see him. Before Dwalin could say something, Ori pulled him to sit next to him and then sat in his lap. “Hello.” Ori gave him a kiss and Dwalin’s anger melted away.

“I thought we were meeting for lunch.”

“I’m sorry,” smiled Ori and gave him another kiss.

Bilbo immediately recognized Ori’s boyfriend. He has seen him several times with Thorin; actually he was always next to Thorin.

“This is Bilbo,” introduced Ori and Dwalin offered him his hand, which Bilbo immediately accepted. He realized that only Thorin was an ass, everyone else was normal and most importantly, polite.

“Nice to meet you,” said Bilbo.

“The same.”

“So Dwalin,” started Kíli. He obviously wanted something but he didn’t want to ask directly.

“No need to sugarcoat it,” cut Dwalin. “Just tell me what you want.”

“Great! I want you to buy the alcohol for the party we will have next week.”

“Not happening.”

“Come one love,” encouraged Ori. “They need your help.”

“What did Thorin say?”

Kíli avoided making eye contact before he muttered something.

“What?” asked Dwalin when Kíli didn’t give him the answer.

“He said he won’t help,” repeated Kíli, more loudly this time.

“Then I’m not helping either,” said Dwalin leaving no room for argument

The boys protested but Dwalin didn’t change his mind.

“When is the party,” asked Bilbo. This was the first time he joined the conversation.

“Next week,” explained Fíli. “Our parents are going on a business trip for two days. We have the house for ourselves.”

“Then why are you making so much fuss about buying alcohol?”

“Hello?” called Kíli. “Earth to Bilbo. We are underage. We need an adult to buy it.”

“You have Dwalin here, use him.”

“We just asked him but he refused,” said Kíli. “Were you even listening?”

Bilbo sighed. “Yes of course I was.” He turned to Ori. “I’m sorry but I have to ask, aren’t you Dori’s brother?”

“He is,” whined Kíli. “Why is this so important? We need to get the alcohol or the party has to be cancelled.”

Bilbo smiled at Ori who understood his innuendo. Ori turned to his boyfriend. “Dwalin, when are we going to tell Dori that we are dating?”

Dwalin’s eyes grew wide and he immediately understood that he was trapped. He sighed before looking at the twins. “Fine, what do you want me to buy?”

Kíli jumped with excitement before giving Dwalin the list of things they will need for a party. Dwalin rolled his eyes before he accepted the list and he and Ori left.

:::

Later in the day Kíli and Bilbo were in the living room. Bilbo was lying on the couch playing with his phone. He finished his homework and studying long before Kíli even started and now poor Kíli was struggling to complete his homework for history.

“You were amazing today,” praised Kíli. “How did you know about Ori?”

Bilbo put the phone down. “I knew Dori was his brother and I just acted on my instincts. I am also overprotective of my little brother.”

Kíli smiled. “Thank you.”

“No problem.”

Kíli returned back to his history homework, but it didn’t take long before he gave up. “This is pointless. I will not pass history this year.”

Bilbo looked at Kíli. “I can help you if you want.”

“Really? Would you really help me?”

“Yes,” smiled Bilbo. “I have nothing better to do. But know this,” warned Bilbo, “I’ll help you with your homework but I won’t be doing it instead of you.”

Kíli pouted a little before he accepted the deal. It was still better to get a little help than to do everything by himself.

“You know, Mr. Gandalf said that I must help you and your brother pass history this year,” said Bilbo after a while.

Kíli gave him a questioning look. “Yeah? Why’s that?”

“Because I lied to him about being late.”

Kíli smiled. “Sorry about that. But you have to admit, you did have fun driving with us.”

“I did,” confirmed Bilbo.

They returned to work on Kíli’s homework when the doorbell rang. A few minutes later Fíli came into the room carrying a large cardboard box. “This came for Bilbo,” he explained. “Special delivery.”

Bilbo looked skeptically at the box when Fíli placed it down in the living room.

“What is it?” asked Kíli.

“I have no idea, I just signed for it,” answered Fíli.

“Can I open it?” asked Kíli and Bilbo nodded from where he was sitting. Kíli quickly opened the box and pulled out a strangely shaped pillow. “What in the world is this?”

Bilbo rolled his eyes. “It’s a pregnancy pillow,” he explained.

“What do you do with it?”

“You sleep with it,” explained Bilbo plainly.

“Right…” said Kíli and Bilbo saw that he didn’t understand.

“It supports the belly,” he explained.

“Oh, right. You were at the doctor yesterday. Did you get a new picture?”

Bilbo was reluctant to answer. “Yes.”

“Can we see it,” asked Fíli.

“No!” quickly answered Bilbo and Kíli pouted.

“Why not?”

“Because the last one I gave you ended up in trash because Thorin didn’t want to look at it.”

“I’m sorry about that. But I just want you to show it to me. I won’t give it to Thorin, I promise.”

Bilbo thought about it for a moment before he decided that Kíli was right. It wasn’t his fault that Thorin threw away the first one and nothing bad could happen if he would show the twins the new one. At the end Bilbo accepted. He took the pillow to his room and returned a few minutes later back to the living room where Fíli and Kíli were waiting for him.

“Here,” said Bilbo and gave Kíli the picture before sitting down across from him.

Kíli’s excitement quickly disappeared. “I don’t see anything.”

Bilbo just rolled his eyes. “I really don’t know why I’m showing it to you. You are hopeless.”

Fíli laughed at Bilbo’s comment.

“Why are you laughing,” asked Kíli. He gave the picture to his brother. “Tell me what you see in this picture.”

“Absolutely nothing,” answered Fíli and both he and Bilbo started laughing when Kíli frowned.

He snatched the picture out of his brother’s hands. “Why are you laughing? You can’t actually see anything here.”

“Yes you can,” laughed Bilbo.

Kíli threw the picture on the table and crossed his arms over his chest, while Fíli and Bilbo laughed.

In that moment Thorin walked in. “Why are you two laughing?” he asked. Before Bilbo or Fíli could answer he saw the picture on the table. “Not this again,” he sighed and picked up the picture.

Bilbo stopped laughing and his eyes went on Thorin. “This is mine, thank you very much,” he said and stepped in front of Thorin. “Please give it back.”

Thorin eyed Bilbo outstretched hand. “I told you I don’t want to see these things lying around the house.”

“Yes, you made that very clear when you destroyed the first picture. Now please give it back,” demanded Bilbo.

Thorin waved the picture in front of Bilbo’s face. “I warned you.” Bilbo reached for the picture but Thorin put it out of his reach. “This is going where the previous one is and you know where it ended.”

If looks could kill Thorin would drop dead on the spot by the look that Bilbo sent him. “You are a bully!” Bilbo yelled and pushed Thorin back as hard as he could, but Thorin was strong and Bilbo didn’t manage to move him. “You are a bully,” repeated Bilbo before he ran out of the living room, leaving Fíli, Kíli and Thorin alone.

“Was this really necessary?” asked Fíli. He was really angry at Thorin.

“I warned him about leaving his stuff around this house,” answered Thorin plainly.

“And what is he supposed to do? Pretend that everything is normal?”

“I don’t care what he does! Nobody asked me a thing, so I don’t want to have anything with this!” Thorin glared at his brothers for a second before storming out of the room.

:::

In the next few days things didn’t get better between Bilbo and Thorin. Bilbo was still upset because Thorin took the picture from him for the second time and Thorin was too stubborn to say anything to Bilbo. He and Dwalin observed the new group for days until Ori dragged Dwain with them leaving Thorin alone. He still had his company, but they didn’t spend as much time with him as they used to and Thorin spent a lot of time alone. At the beginning he didn’t mind some peace and quiet, but after a few days he started missing them. The worst part was that he blamed Bilbo for everything and he didn’t make his life any easier. It was hard for Bilbo to swallow all the remarks Thorin threw at him so he did his best to avoid him, but this was rather hard because they were living in the same house.

Soon the day came when Bilbo found himself in the car with Thráin, driving to his parents to sign the contract. There was a knot inside his stomach. In the next few minutes his future and the future of his baby would be sealed. He wasn’t enjoying this, but he didn’t have much of a choice. He agreed to this and no matter how much he regretted agreeing there was nothing that would get him out of it.

The car stopped in front of his house. His parents were already waiting for him. It’s been a few days since they last saw him. They missed him and they were worried about him. They were worried how he was treated and about his health. Bilbo still hasn’t informed them of his last visit to the doctor and they were eager for some information.

“Hello sweetheart,” greeted his mother and pulled him into a hug.

Bilbo allowed his mother to hug him tight. He missed her. “Hi mum.”

Belladonna cupped his cheeks. “How are you?”

“I’m fine,” answered Bilbo.

“Can we do this quickly? I don’t have much time,” said Thráin impatiently.

Bungo nodded and motioned him to come inside.

Once everyone was seated in the small kitchen Thráin pulled out some papers. “Here it is. Everything you and I agreed on,” he said looking Bilbo in the eyes. “Your brother has a college fund. There is more than enough money to get him in every university he chooses.” He pulled out a check and placed it in front of Bilbo. “Here is the money for everything else that your parents spent.”

Bilbo eyed the check and the contract, but was too afraid to reach for it and read it. Why does it matter what it says, he knew how this is going to end.

“I think that concludes our deal,” said Thráin and pushed the contract in front of Bilbo’s parents when Bilbo didn’t say a word for a couple of minutes. Thráin pulled out a pen and put it on the table.

Bungo and Belladonna looked at their son. Bilbo knew they were waiting his next move so he swallowed hard and nodded.

His mother let out a breath before reaching for the pen. She looked her son in the eyes one more time before signing and the passing the document to her husband. Bungo took the pen and sign the contract before pushing it back to Thráin.

“Excellent,” smiled Thráin. “It was a pleasure doing business with you. I must go now; I have some things to do. Coming?” he asked Bilbo and stood up.

“If it’s not a problem I want my son to stay with us for dinner. We haven’t seen him in a few days and it would be nice to spend some time with him,” said Bungo.

“He can stay,” said Thráin. “Enjoy your evening,” he added before he left.

The moment Bilbo heard the front door close he could hold back his tears and he started crying. Luckily his mother was there to calm him down. She rubbed his back until he calmed down.

“It’s going to be okay, you’ll see,” she soothed. “We’ll get through this and everything will go back to normal.”

Bilbo couldn’t answer so he only nodded.

“How are you feeling,” his mother asked when his father returned to the kitchen.

“I’m fine. It’s not ideal, but I will survive.”

“Did you go to the doctor?”

Bilbo nodded. “I was there a few days ago. She’s lovely. We talked about a few things, she said that everything is alright and that’s it.”

“Did that boy got tested?” asked Belladonna.

“Thorin?” Bilbo questioned. “He did. We are waiting for the results. The doctor will call me when she gets them.”

His parents nodded in understanding. “How it is living with them?” asked his father.

“Nothing special, really. I have my own room and bathroom, it’s quite big. They don’t really care how much money they spend. The doctor said I should get a pregnancy pillow and the next day I got it.”

“They should treat you like royalty,” said Belladonna and Bilbo could sense anger in her tone.

Before Bilbo could say anything else there was a loud call from the living room. “Bilbo?!”

It was Frodo who called him and the boy had, in the matter of seconds, his arms wrapped around Bilbo’s neck. “I missed you so much.”

“How are you?” asked Bilbo.

“I’m fine. You?”

“I could be better.”

“Did you bring me back the picture?” Bilbo didn’t answer his question. “Why happened,” demanded Frodo.

Bilbo took a breath. “There have been some complications so I can’t give it back to you.”

Bilbo could see the disappointment in Frodo’s eyes. “It’s okay, I understand. Why are you here? Are you staying for dinner?”

“He is,” answered his mother and smiled. “You two can spend some time together while I finish cooking.”

Frodo’s eyes sparkled with excitement and before Bilbo could say something he found himself dragged up to his room.

“How is it living with the Thorin?” Frodo asked.

“Horrible,” answered Bilbo and sat down on the bed. “He threw your picture away and also took the new one away from me.”

“He is an ass.”

“Language,” warned Bilbo. “If dad would hear you he would get very angry.”

“What do you want me to say? It’s the truth.” Frodo was quiet for a second, thinking. “You said you got another picture. Were you at the doctor?”

“Yes,” smiled Bilbo.

“And?”

Bilbo stood up and lifted his shirt. “Take a look.”

Frodo’s eyes widened. “You are so big!” he exclaimed.

Before Bilbo could say something Frodo had his hands on his small belly. “I’m not that big,” said Bilbo with a lot of fondness.

“I cannot believe you are really pregnant. Can you feel it move?”

“No, not yet, but the doctor said I should feel it soon.”

“Did you show it to Thorin?”

“Why do you keep asking about him?” asked Bilbo a little annoyed.

“He is the baby’s fa-“

“No!” interrupted Bilbo. “He doesn’t want to do anything with this baby. The only thing he does is make my life miserable. He is… He is…” Bilbo didn’t know how to describe him. “You were right. He’s an ass.”

“How big is their house?” Frodo asked once he stopped laughing.

“It’s really big. They have everything you could possibly imagine.”

“You live with the kings now,” said Frodo.

“And yet I’m a prisoner in a golden cage,” sighed Bilbo. “I would much rather live here. But not everything is that bad. Kíli and Fíli are very nice to me. Have mum and dad said anything about… you know, Thorin?”

Frodo eyed his brother. “They didn’t, at least not while I was there. But I can tell that dad doesn’t like it. He is angry that you are pregnant, but I dare to say that he is more angry about the fact that he has to deal with the Durin family. You know how he dislikes them.”

Bilbo sighed. His dad was convinced that Durins were corrupted and now this deal they made only proved him right. Before he could say something else their mother called them to dinner.

Bilbo loved her cooking, and even the food at Durin’s wasn’t bad it couldn’t compare to a meal prepared by his mother.

They finished dinner and then they spent some time together as a family. The time flew by and before he knew it the night fell and it was time for him to return. At the top of everything it started raining. His father once again offered to escort him back, but Bilbo refused. He had other plans how to get back to the mansion.

_I need a ride. –BB_

He waited a couple of minutes before the reply came.

_Then find one. –T_

_I did. I’m at my parents. –BB_

No reply came and Bilbo knew he was playing with fire. He had no idea if Thorin will come to pick him up or not. He really didn’t feel like walking all the way back so he was hoping for the best.

After twenty minutes of waiting he gave up. Thorin obviously wasn’t going to show up, so walking back in the rain was the only option. He made a few steps when Thorin’s car stopped next to him. Bilbo smiled. Thorin actually came for him.

“I’m not your taxi driver,” said Thorin the moment Bilbo got in the car.

Bilbo smiled. “I knew you will come for me.”

Thorin rolled his eyes. “Please, you were ready to walk.”

“No,” corrected Bilbo, “I just wanted to come closer so that you wouldn’t have to drive all the way.” Thorin laughed. It was the first time that Bilbo heard Thorin laugh. “Wow,” said Bilbo.

“What?”

“This is the first time I heard you laugh.”

“I do laugh. Maybe you just weren’t paying enough attention.”

“I’ve been paying attention and let me tell you that you don’t laugh often. Actually you don’t laugh at all. Or smile,” he added.

Thorin shook his head and smiled, but didn’t say a word the rest of the ride back. Maybe Bilbo was right and he should smile more, but it was hard will everything that was on his mind. And yet, Bilbo managed to make him smile and for a moment Thorin could forget about the big bad world around him.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want some Thorin/Bilbo interaction... They need to start working on their relationship ASAP!


	11. Chapter 11

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big thank you to BelleLorage for correcting this chapter.

**“You kept me in emotional strain gave me nothing but heartache and pain…”**

Bilbo couldn't stop smiling even if he tried. Thorin came for him when he called! And he actually came! Their relationship was finally making some progress. Even though Bilbo knew they would never be together due to everything that happened between them, he still hoped that Thorin could care for him deep down , and even if they would never be together like he had always imagined, they could still be able to become friends. However, the thing with Thorin and his ’relationships’ was that every time he made a step forward, the next two were back. And so, things got even worse between them.

Bilbo, Fíli and Kíli were enjoying their breakfast when Thorin came in the next morning. Bilbo had his mouths full and his plate was filled with food. There was not enough space to add another thing to it. He was enjoying his breakfast and thinking about the night before. Thorin had been nice to him time and Bilbo was determined to keep him in the same mood today.

“Good morning,” greeted Bilbo, trying not to smile with his mouth full.

To that, Thorin raised an eyebrow and Bilbo immediately understood that what has happened last night wasn’t going to repeat anytime soon. “How about stuffing even more food in your mouth,” suggested Thorin and Bilbo frowned because of his bluntness. “You gained, what, ten pounds since you started living with us,” he stated, rudely. “Did your parents ever give you anything to eat or you didn’t have enough money?” asked Thorin.

Fíli and Kíli stared at their older brother in horror and disbelief. They just couldn’t imagine that he could be so cruel to say something like that.

“I was hungry,” whispered Bilbo in response, tears pooling and blurring his vision.

Thorin shook his head, indifferently continuing his assault. “There are five other people in this house that need food and I can assure you that they don’t consume the quantity of food you just put on your plate in a week time.”

Kíli knew what was about to happen. They all did. But when he reached for Bilbo’s hand, the other boy just ran out of the kitchen before he or Fili were able to say or do anything. Thorin, on the other hand, only smirked after Bilbo ran away and calmly started eating an apple.

“What in the world made you say something like _that_ to him?” asked Fíli, visibly angry. “What? I just told him the truth,” Thorin shrugged like he had done nothing wrong.

“No,” Fíli countered, pointing his finger at the eldest, “You just insulted him for no good reason just because he wished you good morning. That, Thorin, wasn’t okay.”

“He will get over it.” Again, he shrugged. “Besides, he should get used to the comments like this. He can expect them very soon in the school. I think that he won’t be eating outside with you in the future.”

“So what?” started Kíli, “You’re just going to let everyone insult him and make his life miserable?”

“I think that the fact that his life is so pathetic is his own fault. I had nothing to do with it.”

“He is carrying your child-“ Kíli tried to point out.

“No,” Cut Thorin. “Yesterday he sold _his_ child.” He said, his tone icy cold and did not leave room for argument. “I never had anything to do with it and I never will. The child now belongs to our parents. Father showed me the papers this morning. From now on, Bilbo Baggins is nothing more than a living incubator. He is to give birth and then if I’m lucky I will never have to see him again.”

“You can’t be that cruel,” Kíli said.

“Wake up, Kíli! What are you expecting? We are not living in a fairytale so you can forget about the happy ending!” Thorin took a breath, reassuring himself after an unexpected outburst before carrying on, more quietly. “There will be no happy ending,” Thorin stated before he left the kitchen.

Everything had been going so well, but things were, once again, starting to fall apart. Neither Fíli nor Kíli knew what to do to make things better. Thorin seemed to truly despise Bilbo and was trying everything to make his life even more miserable. The things he said to him had been cruel and far from the truth. The truth was that Bilbo was pregnant and needed to eat – he liked to eat and why shouldn’t he? There was more than enough food and so, if he was hungry, he should eat. Sighing, Kíli filled a plastic container with food and left in it in front of Bilbo’s door. He knew that the chances that Bilbo would actually eat were slim, but he silently hoped that Bilbo wouldn’t take Thorin’s words to his heart.

:::

Kíli didn’t see if Bilbo had left their house in the morning to go to school. He also didn’t see Bilbo when it was lunch time and he worried for his friend.

After what had happened in the morning Bilbo wasn’t in the mood to talk to anyone. How foolish of him to even think that Thorin would be nice to him. He had waited for everyone to leave before going to school by himself. He saw his new friends at their table at lunch break, waiting and looking for him and, for a moment, Bilbo wanted to join them. That was, of course, until he saw Thorin approach the group and taking his seat. He shouldn’t feel bad about this; after all, up until now he always ate alone. So, like always he found a spot where he could eat and no one would see him. He was so hungry, but he soon found out that he couldn’t keep anything down. Not with Thorin’s comment during breakfast hanging over his head.

Bilbo decided to avoid everyone for the rest of the day and when school finished, he felt the urgent need to go home. Not to Durin’s mansion, but _home_ ; where his family lived. When he got there, only Frodo was at home and he didn’t question him when he ran up to his room in tears. He cried there for almost an hour before he calmed down and started on his homework. Frodo didn’t have much to do that day so he joined him in his room. He was rather excited to have his brother back home and even if he annoyed him, Bilbo didn’t have the heart to tell him to leave.

His parents were also more than happy to see him and nobody asked him why he came. Belladonna noticed that something was wrong, but she didn’t pry and she even prepared Bilbo’s favorite dinner. Bilbo was so hungry that he couldn’t refuse dinner and devoured the food that his mother placed in front of him without saying a word.

“Can I stay here?” asked Bilbo, as he finished his second serving of cake.

“Overnight?” asked Belladonna a little surprised. Bilbo nodded. “Won’t this cause you trouble with Mr. Durin?”

“He can stay,” said Bungo. “This is his home and he is always welcome here.”

“I don’t want to give Mr. Durin a reason to be angry at him,” countered Belladonna.

“They won’t even notice I’m not there,” said Bilbo, ending the argument.

Belladonna nodded in agreement. After dinner Bilbo went back to his room and changed into his old pajamas before going to bed. It was early, but he didn’t have the energy for doing anything else and he didn’t want to spend time in the living room with his parents because he knew that his mother was worried. It was easier to pretend that everything was okay.

He climbed under the covers and found a comfortable position when his phone started to ring. Bilbo reached for his phone and saw that it was Thorin who was calling him. He pressed the mute before trying to go back to sleep. A few minutes later, the phone rang once more. Mute. Why in the world was he calling him? A few minutes later he called yet again. Mute. Thorin called five more times and Bilbo wanted nothing more than to throw his phone against the wall.

_Where are you? –T_

Bilbo didn’t answer. He just wanted to be done with this and get some well deserved sleep.

_WHERE ARE YOU?! –T_

Bilbo ignored him once more.

_Hey, where are you? –K_

_At my parents. Don’t tell anyone. –BB_

_I won’t. Are you okay? –K_

_Yes. I just needed to get away from your house. –BB_

_I understand. Thorin had no right to say these things to you. –K_

_I’m tired. I need to get some sleep. –BB_

He didn’t want to talk about what happened in the morning.

_Sleep well. –K_

:::

When Bilbo woke up the next morning he was in a much better mood. He got dressed in the same clothes he wore the previous day before going down in the kitchen to have breakfast with his family. It wasn’t as fancy as at Durin’s, but it was still very good. After the breakfast he repacked his bag and walked Frodo to school.

The moment he stepped away from the bus, Kíli was next to him.

“How are you?” Kíli asked.

“Good morning, Kíli. It’s a beautiful day, don’t you think so?”

Kíli understood what Bilbo was implying and thankfully decided to play along. “Yes, it is. Hello, how are you?”

“Well, thank you” answered Bilbo, smiling softly.

“Listen… Do you have some time later? Maybe we could-“ Kíli was interrupted by Bilbo.

“I’m sorry Kíli, but I’m late for class,” Bilbo said as he hurried to class, not looking back.

He avoided everyone yet again at lunch break, even though he knew he couldn’t do this for long. Sooner or later, he would have to return to the mansion. The call from the doctor didn’t make his day any better. Thorin’s Rhesus factor was positive and he needed to get an injection of Anti-D Immunoglobulin, if possible, today. That meant that he had to go back to the mansion after school.

He was hesitant at the door, but he decided to risk it and get to his room as quickly as possible when he came from school. He was hoping that Thorin won’t hear him, but luck just wasn’t on his side. Only a few seconds after he closed the door of his room, Thorin barged in, anger boiling out of him.

“Where were you?!” demanded Thorin with a roar.

“I thought you said you don’t care what I do,” answered Bilbo, taking a cautionary step back, trying to remain calm and continued to put his books out of the school bag without looking at Thorin.

Thorin apparently wasn’t in a very patient mood, so he simply pulled Bilbo’s arm and turned him around so that their eyes met. “Don’t test my patience,” he hissed.

“I’m not,” answered Bilbo, getting back his footing and yanked his arm out of Thorin’s strong grip. “I’m trying to avoid you so that you don’t have to look at me. I don’t want to be in your way when you’re clearly disgusted by me.”

“That’s not what I meant…” said Thorin calmly. “You don’t… disgust me.”

“Look,” cut Bilbo, “I know you don’t like me living here so I will make things easier for you. I will go to my parents after school and I will leave in the morning before you wake up. That way you won’t see me.”

“That’s not what-“

Thorin was interrupted again. “I only came here today because the doctor called me and I need to visit her.”

“Is something wrong?” asked Thorin, a subtle touch of panic could be sensed in his voice.

“Nothing that concerns you,” answered Bilbo sharply, turning his back on the other.

Thorin stared at Bilbo’s form, for a moment unsure of what to say. “…Do you want me to go with you?”

Bilbo didn’t look at Thorin. “No need. If I finish my homework really fast I think I’ll be able to catch the bus.”

“I can drive you, if you want,” offered Thorin.

“No thank you.” Bilbo answered. “I think you’ve done enough. Now if you’ll excuse me…” He looked at Thorin and then to the door. He wanted to be as far away from Thorin as physically possible.

Thorin nodded before he quietly left the room. He felt so bad about the things he said to Bilbo, but he just couldn’t help himself. He was pulled toward the younger man and he didn’t like that feeling, it scared him. He tried to fight back his feelings, but it was too hard to do so. He didn’t deserve Bilbo, not after everything he did to him and the horrible things he said. And yet, every time he was nice to him it seemed that Bilbo immediately forgot about everything that happened and smiled back. But there was one thing that Thorin will never be able to forgive and forget and that _thing_ will probably be the reason why he and Bilbo will _never_ be together.

:::

Bilbo worked as quickly as he could and finished his homework very quickly. He changed at then went as quickly as possible to the bus stop. After a few minutes of waiting the bus came and Bilbo felt relieved, at least he won’t have to walk. The bus ride was uneventful and if Bilbo didn’t detest everything that came from Thorin he would enjoy playing games on his phone.

To his surprise the waiting room wasn’t empty and he had to endure almost an hour of disapproving looks from other patients. Finally he was called in and Bilbo was more than happy to escape the waiting room for a few minutes.

“Hello,” greeted the nurse. “I’m just going to measure your weight and check your blood pressure. Doctor’s orders,” she smiled and Bilbo nodded before doing everything she told him to do.

The first part was over quickly and now it was time to talk to the doctor.

“Hello Bilbo,” she greeted.

“Hi…” Bilbo trailed off. He didn’t know if he could call her by her first name. It didn’t seem appropriate.

“You can call me Arwen, if you like. I don’t mind. I prefer to be on the first name basis,” Arwen explained and quickly went through Bilbo’s file. “Your blood pressure is normal, which is good. I was worried that you were under a lot of stress.” She closed the file and put it down on her desk. “I think you know why you are here today. I got the results back from the lab and unfortunately Thorin’s results came out positive. This is nothing to worry about, but we will have to take extra good care of you. I will give you one injection today and you will get the next one after you give birth.” Bilbo nodded in understanding.

Arwen worked quickly and Bilbo almost didn’t feel when she gave him the injection. He was a little worried about his baby, but Arwen assured him that this will prevent any complications.

“Last time you were here we talked about prenatal classes,” she started. “I signed you up and the first class is Thursday, next week, at six. You can come alone you can bring a friend. It’s your choice.”

Thank you,” said Bilbo.

“You’re welcome. I’ll see you in three weeks for a normal checkup. If anything changes or if you are worried about anything you can call me.”

Bilbo nodded before he left. He didn’t expect to spend so much time at the doctor. Because of that he missed that last bus home and calling Thorin to come and pick him up was out of the question. He resigned to an hour and a half long walk back. With so much free time and with nothing to occupy his mind Bilbo replayed what happened between him and Thorin over and over until he had to stop for a moment and sit down. He really did screw up his life. At the beginning he thought that even if he wouldn’t be able to go to college he will have his baby to look after, someone who will receive all his love and time. But now this wasn’t possible anymore. The baby now belonged to the Durins and he understood that he will never be able to see it again. He couldn’t imagine his life here anymore. It would be too hard to live so close to his baby knowing he could never see it. He could stay here until he finished high school, but then he would have to find somewhere else to live. It would be hard starting anew, but he would have to do it. There was no way he will be a burden to his parents, they have enough trouble with him as it is.

When he got back to the mansion he was too tired to go to the kitchen to find something to eat. He went directly to his room and took a quick shower before falling into bed. However, just as he was about to turn off the lights, there was a knock on the door.

Nola slowly opened the door. “Can I come in?” Bilbo nodded from where he was lying on the bed. “I brought you something to eat.”

Bilbo’s empty stomach made a loud noise at the smell of food she brought into his room. “You didn’t have to. I know you don’t like bringing food up to the rooms.”

“I don’t mind. Someone was extra nice to me today after dinner so I had to repay him somehow.” She smiled and put the tray on Bilbo’s bed. “Eat before it gets cold,” she ordered before she left.

 _Kíli,_ thought Bilbo, sighing happily. There was at least one person in this household that cared for him. He didn’t waste another minute before he started eating what Nola prepared him. It was delicious and Bilbo felt fantastically better with his stomach full. He made a note to thank Kíli tomorrow for this.

:::

When he woke up the next morning, the house was empty. Bilbo found it very strange that nobody was there until he remembered that Thráin and Valla left for two days and that they were, in fact, all alone. His first thought was to go back to his parents, he was sure that Fíli and Kíli wouldn’t mind and Thorin didn’t really care where he was, but he decided to stay at the mansion.

He took the bus to school as always and at arriving, the first thing he did was search for Kíli. It didn’t take him long to find him, of course. The young Durin was very loud and was always surrounded by beautiful girls.

“Kíli,” called Bilbo, waving him closer. “Can I talk to you?”

Kíli nodded and escaped the group that was surrounding him. “Best hurry before they notice I’m gone.”

They ran down the hall until they were sure nobody was following them. “So, what’s up?” asked Kíli as he walked with Bilbo to the class.

“Nothing, I just wanted to thank you for what you did yesterday. It was very nice of you.”

Kíli raised an eyebrow. “You are… welcome?” He wasn’t sure what Bilbo was talking about.

“So sweet of you to take care of me-“

“I’m sorry,” interrupted Kíli. “But what are you talking about? We haven’t seen each other yesterday.”

“I know, but it was still sweet of you to tell Nola to bring me food. I was really hungry, so, thank you.”

Kíli looked at Bilbo. “I have absolutely no idea what are you talking about,” he admitted.

“Dinner,” explained Bilbo once more. “Last night Nola brought me dinner in my room because someone asked her to do so. I know that Tho-“

“It wasn’t me,” explained Kíli. “Fíli and I were at Ori’s last night. We slept there. The only two people in the house besides you were Nola and Thorin. Mum and dad left in the afternoon because something urgent came up.”

Bilbo stared at Kíli with his mouth open. He wasn’t sure if he heard correctly. ‘The only two people in the house besides you were Nola and Thorin.’  Was it possible that Thorin did something like this? No, Bilbo thought, he would never do something like that. After all, he hated him. “Oh… Alright then. Good. Excellent….” He said with a slight smile that did not meet his eyes, ready to walk away and forget about the whole thing entirely, when Kíli called him.

“Hey, don’t forget. There is a party tonight,” reminded Kíli.

The party had completely slipped his mind. He remembered that Thráin and Valla had left, but with everything that was happening… He forgot about the party. “I’m not sure if I can come. I have some things to do.”

“Don’t you dare skip this party,” threatened Kíli playfully, holding Bilbo at bay. “You have to be there or I swear I will find you and drag you there myself.”

Bilbo swallowed and forced a smile. If things had been different; If things were better; If things between Thorin and him were civil, he wouldn’t mind going to the party, but, alas, they weren’t.

He would just have to do his best and avoid him. “I’ll be there.”

“Great,” smiled Kíli, openly. “I have to run now. I have history and Mr. Elrond will give me back the paper you helped me with.” He let out a single, nervous chuckle and crossed his fingers. “Fingers crossed that I get a positive grade.”

“Don’t worry,” said Bilbo, waving him off. “The worst you can expect is a B minus.”

Kíli smiled once more before he disappeared down the hall. Bilbo didn’t know what to do. He felt obligated to say something to Thorin, but at the same time he knew that if he said something there was a big possibility that Thorin will try to deny it or simply just insult him again.

The day at school passed with the speed of light because this time Bilbo wasn’t alone. Bofur decided to spend some time with him before they would see each other at the Durin party. He escorted him to the mansion, before going home to get some rest.

Bilbo was in his room, doing his best to stay quiet and do his homework, when he heard Fíli and Kíli arrive back home.

“Bilbo!” Kíli called in a desperate tone and Bilbo’s eyes widened. What could possibly be wrong? Before he managed to get out the bed, Kíli was in his room, completely out of breath holding a paper in front of his face. “I got an A minus! I got an A minus! Can you believe it?!”

Bilbo smiled, gleaming with pride, and gently took the paper from the younger boy’s hand. “Yes I can,” he said and smiled at Kíli who was about to explode with excitement. “Now… Let’s calm down a bit, shall we?”

“Calm down?” Kíli repeated. “Are you crazy? This is cause for celebration! I’m getting so drunk tonight!”

Bilbo looked at him a little worried. “Just don’t get too drunk tonight. I don’t think your parents would appreciate if we would have to call an ambulance.”

“Don’t worry” He said with a smile “I know my limits.”

“Alright,” Bilbo said, sighing his defeat, and quickly scanned the paper. “What did Mr. Elrond say?”

“He said that I should thank you for helping me.”

“You told him?!”

“No,” Kíli protested, “I’m not stupid. But I guess it is strange when he gets a paper from me. I haven’t given him one in two years. You can imagine how surprised he was when I actually wrote one.”

“Anything else?”

Kíli shook his head, shrugging. “No. He said that I should keep up the good work and I will pass.”

“See, it’s not that hard.” Bilbo said, handing the paper back.

“It’s not hard when I have you to help me. Thank you,” said Kíli and pulled Bilbo into a hug.

“You are welcome.”

“I’ll see you in a few hours when the party starts,” said Kíli before he left.

:::

A few hours later the first people arrived at the mansion. Bilbo didn’t want to leave his room yet and join them so he started reading. Another hour passed and it became dark outside. Loud music could be heard from downstairs and Bilbo heard even more people come to the party. He decided to wait a little longer before going down but Bofur had other plans.

“Hey, what are you doing?” Bofur asked when he entered the room without knocking and Bilbo jumped with surprise.

“I’m reading a book,” answered Bilbo plainly, showing the cover to his friend.

“There is an awesome party downstairs and you are reading a book? Have you lost your mind?”

“No,” said Bilbo and put down the book. “It’s too loud downstairs and I… I just don’t want to see Thorin right now. I have been avoiding him for the last few days,” he explained.

“Don’t worry, there are so many people down there that he won’t even notice you. Come on,” encouraged Bofur. “Let’s go downstairs.”

“Fine,” sighed Bilbo before allowing Bofur to drag him downstairs.

Bofur was right. The party was in full swing and the house was full of people, who talked and laughed and danced. There was loud music playing, and Bofur and Bilbo had some trouble to get to the kitchen to get something to drink. Bilbo got a glass out of the cabinet and searched for some juice in the fridge because he couldn’t drink beer.

“What are you doing?!” exclaimed Kíli when Bilbo was about to take the first sip. “You can’t drink that at the party!”

“I can’t drink beer or anything with alcohol, remember?” Bilbo responded.

“Oh… Right,” said Kíli, after thinking for a moment. He took the glass out of Bilbo’s hands and emptied it in the sink.

“What are you doing?” Bilbo demanded.

“I’ll be right back,” said Kíli before he disappeared. He returned a couple of seconds later with a plastic cup in his hand. “Here, drink this.”

“I can’t drink alcohol,” repeated Bilbo with an exasperated sigh.

“It’s apple juice,” explained Kíli, smiling like someone who was having too much fun. “I just put it in a plastic cup so that no one would notice.”

“Right… Thank you,” said Bilbo before accepting the cup.

“Let’s find me something to drink,” suggested Bofur at long last and Bilbo followed him until they found him a beer.

They had nothing better to do and Bofur wanted to talk so they decided to sit down at the bar, but before Bofur could open his mouth Thorin appeared next to the two of them obviously a little drunk.

“So,” started Thorin, “When can we expect the happy announcement?” he asked and leaned on the bar for support, his body turned to Bilbo.

“What are you talking about?” sighed Bilbo, annoyed that he had to deal with Thorin so early.

“You, with a guy, talking and drinking beer. If you weren’t pregnant,” said Thorin and placed a hand on Bilbo’s belly, “I would say that there chance he would knock you up.”

Bilbo slapped Thorin’s hand away before speaking. “Firstly, do not touch me. Secondly, this is apple juice and we are just two friends talking. There will be no sex involved tonight, whatsoever. And if there were, well, that is none of your business.”

“Oh, but I would dare to say that Bofur here is hoping for some action,” continued Thorin.

“He is not an ass like you,” retorted Bilbo, crossing his arms, clearly offended.

“Sorry, my bad,” apologized Thorin, without really meaning it, before spotting someone the other side of the room. “So… If you’ll excuse me now, I think I just found myself tonight’s entertainment,” he said before walking into the direction he was looking.

“Where are you going? Thorin?!”

“Let him go,” said Bofur, “He just found somebody he will have fun with tonight.”

Bilbo couldn’t let go and he saw Thorin approach a beautiful brunette with long legs. Oh, this made Bilbo’s blood boil. How dare Thorin do something like that again? Bofur tried to distract him, but Bilbo couldn’t tear his eyes away from Thorin and continued to stare at him for a few minutes while Bofur was talking.

“You are staring again,” Bofur pointed out after the first hour went by.

“I’m not,” Bilbo answered, even though he was.

“Yes, you are.” Bofur said, deciding to look as well.

Bilbo huffed and made a gesture in Thorin’s direction. “I just can’t believe he is doing this again.”

“What?”

“He was flirting with her for a few minutes and now he will make his move.” Bilbo gritted his teeth and crossed his arms. “I just can’t believe she would fall for that.”

“You did,” Bofur just had to remind him and if looks could kill he would have been dead on the spot by the look Bilbo sent him. “I don’t know why are you so focused on Thorin right now. He does the same thing at every party. I don’t understand how he does it, but every party there he gets someone to sleep with him.”

“I’m a genie. Rub me and I came alive,” mocked Bilbo and Bofur laughed full heartedly.

“Are you serious? That’s his pick up line?” He asked in between laughs.

“No,” answered Bilbo, a smile gracing his lips. “But it does work that way, trust me.”

“He must be very good in bed then.”

“He certainly knows what he’s doing,” commented Bilbo and watched Thorin make a move on the girl. “Look.” Both he and Bofur turned to look at Thorin and after only a couple of seconds, the girl smiled and accepted his hand as Thorin led her out of the room.

“I cannot believe he succeeded again,” said Bofur and smiled without any real humor.

Bilbo, on the other hand, made no attempts to show how he wasn’t happy. “Quick, give me your phone.” He ordered.

“Why?”

“Because I left mine in the bedroom,” explained Bilbo, impatiently.

Bofur pulled the phone out of his pocket and Bilbo immediately snatched it before running after Thorin.

“Thorin!” Bilbo called out and Thorin and the girl stopped. Bilbo offered the phone to Thorin before speaking completely out of breath. “Your girlfriend called. She is worried about you and she said you are not picking up your phone so she called me. She told me to tell you that you need to call her immediately.”

Thorin looked a little surprised at Bilbo but, before he could say something, he felt a searing pain on his cheek. The girl slapped him.

“You have a girlfriend?!” she asked, visibly angry.

Containing a satisfied smile, Bilbo quickly said: “He has. And she is the jealous type. If I were you I would get away from here as fast as I could. I really would.”

The girl looked at Thorin before her hand connected with his cheek once again. “I cannot believe this,” she yelled before storming away.

Bilbo smiled up victoriously at Thorin.

“Interesting,” Was the only thing Thorin said as he rubbed his sore cheek.

“What?” asked Bilbo, surprised by the way Thorin was looking at him.

“What I initially considered rudeness, turned out to be jealousy.”

“You wish,” scoffed Bilbo.

Thorin smirked and shook his head. “No, you wish.”

Bilbo narrowed his eyes at Thorin. “I hate you. I never hated anyone more in my life.”

Bilbo’s words didn’t wipe out that smirk from Thorin’s face. “Whatever makes you sleep better at night,” he teased.

“Arghhh,” groaned Bilbo before storming away from him.

**“...But now's the time I'm through with you… I'll be over you.”**

**-TBC-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thanks for your amazing response for the previous chapter. I love you comments so keep posting them :)  
> I hope you like this one as well and let me know what you think. See you soon.


	12. Chapter 12

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine.

**“…In just one dance I'll make your dreams come true.”**

How dare Thorin say something like that? He wasn't jealous at all. No, Bilbo wasn’t jealous. Bilbo couldn’t believe that Thorin said something like this. He who was flirting with… with… well, with that girl. Bilbo was boiling inside. And Thorin thought that Bofur wanted to have sex with him, how absurd. Bofur was his friend, he didn’t have feelings for him and even if he would have he would have told him. No, Bofur didn’t have a crush on him and he wasn’t jealous. As far as he cared Thorin could sleep with whoever he likes.

He didn’t stay down at the party for much longer. He found Bofur to return him his phone, but he didn’t answer his questions. Bofur just shook his head when he saw what Bilbo did. His friend was obviously still very much in love with Thorin no matter how much he tried to deny it. Bilbo kept his eyes open and avoided Thorin for the rest of the night. He went back to his room around three in the morning when the party was in the full swing.

He awoke at ten in the morning and he leaped from the bed when he saw the time on his alarm clock. He was already late for school. He quickly started putting his books in the bag but he stopped when he saw the calendar on the wall. It was Saturday, thank God.  He let out a long breath. At least he wasn’t late for school. He assumed that everyone else was still sleeping so he headed downstairs. He had this idea that he would find something to eat and watch some TV until everyone else would wake up.

He couldn’t believe his eyes when he entered the living room. The person whom Bilbo assumed will be the last one up was standing in the middle of the living room, with a plastic bag in one hand, cleaning. “When did you get up?” Bilbo asked and sat down on the couch.

Thorin turned around and looked at Bilbo who was lying on the couch like he had nothing better to do in his life. He cleared his throat before he began to speak. “I didn’t go to bed. Someone needed to stay up and take care of everything. The last people left not even an hour ago.”

“Mhmmm.” Bilbo pretended that he wasn’t interested in conversation he was having with Thorin so he decided to play with his phone. Thorin shook his head and turned back to cleaning. After a few minutes Bilbo spoke. “What are you listening to?”

Thorin looked at the stereo. “I have absolutely no idea. Someone left this mix in our stereo and I can’t find the remote to change it.”

“I like this song. I’ve never heard it before but I like it.”

“Some of them are okay and some of them are horrible. I’ve been listening to this mix for almost two hours.”

Before Bilbo could say something else the song ended and after two seconds of silence Stayin' Alive started playing.

“I love this song!” they both said at the same time and smiled.

_“_ _Well, you can tell by the way I use my walk,_

_I'm a woman's man: no time to talk.”_

Bilbo couldn’t contain his laughter after Thorin sang the first line.

“What?” asked Thorin visibly offended.

“Nothing, go on,” encouraged Bilbo and smiled.

Thorin eyed him for a moment before turning up the volume.

♫ We can try to understand The New York Times' effect on man ♫

_“_ _Whether you're a brother or whether you're a mother,_

_You're stayin' alive, stayin' alive._

_Feel the city breakin' and everybody shakin',_

_And we're stayin' alive, stayin' alive.”_

Sang Thorin and put on a dancing show on for Bilbo who was laughing so hard that a few tears escaped his eyes. It wasn’t that Thorin was bad at singing and dancing, but for some reason it was hilarious to see Thorin do all these things. He was relaxed and in a good mood and he made Bilbo laugh. That last thing kept Thorin going otherwise he would have stopped long ago. He could only hope that no one would see him.

_“Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive, stayin' alive._

_Ah, ha, ha, ha, stayin' alive.”_

The last part they sang together and at the end they were both laughing. Bilbo didn’t have so much fun in ages. It was weird to see Thorin so relaxed and in that moment Bilbo wanted to do nothing else but to kiss the life out of him. Up to the moment when he felt something hard under his butt and the song changed. Bilbo froze in the moment he heard the first line of the song.

♫ Gotta write a classic ♫

Thorin stopped laughing and looked at Bilbo who was trying his best to avoid eye contact.

♫ Gotta write it in an attic ♫

Thorin dropped the plastic bag he was holding and the noise that it made when it hit the floor forced Bilbo to meet Thorin’s eyes from where he was still lying on the couch.

♫ Baby, I’m an addict now, an addict for your love ♫

Thorin took a step closer and Bilbo bit his lower lip in worry what was about to happen next.

♫ I was a street boy

And you were my best toy

I found it easy to annoy you

But you were different from the rest ♫

“Dance with me,” said Thorin.

Bilbo looked at Thorin like he asked something very inappropriate. “I don’t like this song,” lied Bilbo when Thorin offered him his hand. “It’s too cheesy.”

♫ And I loved you all the wrong ways

Now listen to my say

If it changed to another way

Would the difference make it?

Would it be a classic?

I gotta send it right away ♫

Thorin raised an eyebrow and Bilbo continued: “People dance to it at five in the morning when they are drunk and tired and they need somebody to hold on to so they can stand.”

“Well, it’s ten in the morning and I’m not drunk and I would still like to dance with you,” said Thorin and once again put up his hand to Bilbo. “So if you please…”

Bilbo rolled his eyes before he accepted Thorin’s hand and allowed Thorin to pull him up from the couch and led him to the center of the living room. For once in his life Bilbo was speechless and he had a massive knot in his stomach. His heart was pounding so fast he was sure Thorin was able to hear it. His hands were sweating and his mouth was completely dry. For some reason, not because he was in love with Thorin, absolutely not, Bilbo found himself lost in Thorin’s eyes when the older boy turned him around so that they could share a dance.

Bilbo was like a puppet for a moment, allowing Thorin to control his every move. Thorin put one of Bilbo’s hands on his shoulder while the other automatically found its way along his forearm. Thorin put one of his hands on Bilbo’s hip and the other went on Bilbo’s back so that he could pull him a little closer. Thorin’s touch was like molten lava, hot and spreading very fast through Bilbo’s body. It didn’t burn like every time before when Thorin touched him. No, this was much better and it turned Bilbo’s knees into jelly. He would have collapsed if Thorin didn’t hold him so close. They slowly moved together, not even once breaking eye contact, and for a moment Bilbo thought he could drown himself in those eyes.

♫ Now I’m living my life one day at a time

since losing your love I've been losing my mind

What more can I see

The future is so clear ♫

It looked like they both forgot they were in the middle of the living room dancing to a ‘cheesy’ song. Thorin held Bilbo close to himself. For these few minutes Bilbo Baggins was his and as much as Bilbo belonged to him that much he belonged to Bilbo. Thorin didn’t allow any dark thoughts invade his mind while he shared such an amazing and rare moment with Bilbo.

♫ And it's not what I mean

I mean it's not what it seems

I just keep living for dreams ♫

How true these lyrics were, thought Bilbo while he danced with Thorin. For a moment he felt like he was dreaming. This right here, with Thorin holding him so close, this was his dream. Even if he will deny it later, this was his dream and he wanted nothing more than to kiss Thorin once the song ended. Thorin apparently was thinking the same thing because they broke eye contact and leaned in for a kiss…

But jumped apart the next moment because they heard Fíli yawn loudly as he walked into the living room. “Did I interrupt something?” Fíli asked while he rubbed his still sleeping eyes.

“Nope,” quickly answered Bilbo grabbed the plastic bag Thorin was holding a few minutes earlier and ran out of the living room. He could help clean somewhere else.

Fíli just shrugged and sat down on the couch where Bilbo was sitting before Thorin asked him to dance. “What were you two doing before I came in?” asked Fíli.

“Nothing,” cut Thorin. “Don’t just lay here. Go clean something.” Thorin ordered before he stormed out of the living room, leaving very confused looking Fíli lying on the couch.

“Yikes, someone didn’t get laid last night,” Fíli called after Thorin and dragged himself out of the living room to help clean the house. If only Fíli knew how true this was.

:::

It was one o’clock when Kíli finally woke up; actually it was Bofur who called him to ask him how Bilbo was doing. Kíli had no idea what happened the previous night. He drank a little too much to remember what happened. His head was still spinning and he had some trouble getting down the stairs and into the garden. Bilbo did very good, the garden was almost all cleaned up.

“Morning,” greeted Kíli and collapsed into a chair.

“Well it was about time you wake up. Nola is here, Ori and Dwalin, and Bofur is on his way.”

“I know, he called me.” Kíli rubbed his temple, he didn’t enjoy the headache.

“I’ll get you something for your head,” said Bilbo and went back into the house. He came back a couple of minutes later with a glass of water and some pills for the head. “Here, take these.”

“Thanks.”

Bilbo sat with Kíli for a moment when his phone started to ring. He immediately recognized the number. “Hello.”

 Kíli looked at Bilbo while he talked on the phone. “Who is it?”

Bilbo stopped talking for a moment. “It’s my brother. He is asking me when I’ll come home.”

“Tell him to come visit,” ordered Kíli. “Bofur is on his way, he can pick him up.”

Bilbo thought about it for a second before he agreed. “He will come. He is actually very excited to come here.”

“That’s cool.”

“Well enough of that. Start cleaning,” ordered Bilbo.

Half an hour later Bofur and Frodo appeared on the doorstep. Fíli invited them in and showed them to the garden where Bilbo and Kíli were.

“What happened here?” questioned Frodo. “Were you robbed?”

“No, we had a party,” explained Kíli and offered Frodo his hand. “I’m Kíli, nice to meet you.”

“Frodo.” Frodo looked at his brother and smiled. “So you trashed the entire house?”

“It was Kíli’s idea to throw a party,” explained Bilbo.

“And you helped me,” Kíli pointed out. “If it wasn’t for you we would never have this party.”

“So you are saying this is my fault?”

“All I’m saying that you helped make this mess.”

“And now I’m helping to clean it up,” answered Bilbo. “Which, by the way, you should be doing too.”

Before Kíli could say something else Nola came to check on things. “Nice work, Bilbo.” She turned around only to see Kíli and Frodo sitting on a bench. “Hello,” she said to Frodo. “And you? It’s almost two o’clock, start cleaning!”

Kíli muttered something under his breath before he started helping Bilbo. Even Frodo joined them. At three o’clock most of the house was back to normal. Thorin and Dwalin put the paintings back on the walls, the kitchen, living room, and garden were cleaned so the boys decided to take a minute to rest.

“What’s for lunch?” asked Kíli when Nola brought them some cold lemonade in the garden.

“Do you want me to cook or to help you clean up?” She asked Kíli remained silent. “That’s what I thought.”

Kíli thought about it for a minute. “Pizza it is! I’m going to tell Thorin to order. You two are staying here and you are eating with us. Don’t even think about saying no.”

“So,” started Frodo once Kíli was gone, “You had a party last night.” Bilbo looked at his brother. “Is there anything you want to tell me?”

“Absolutely nothing,” answered Bilbo nonchalantly and Frodo frowned. He had a feeling his brother was hiding something, but before he could ask anything else Kíli returned.

“Pizza will be here in twenty minutes and we are eating outside,” he announced. “Help me get some things from the kitchen.”

Bilbo obeyed and followed Kíli back inside. They needed napkins, few jugs of juice, they decided not to use plates because you can eat pizza with your hands and they took everything outside. A few minutes later Ori, Fíli and Bofur joined them and together they waited for Thorin and Dwalin to bring the food.

By the time Dwalin returned with the pizzas Bilbo was really hungry. Everyone took a seat, but it looked like they purposely left one seat for Thorin next to Bilbo. It looked like the most natural thing when Thorin sat down next to Bilbo. Everyone noticed, but no one said a thing up to the moment when Thorin poured some juice in a glass and put it in front of Bilbo. Bilbo of course pretended like he didn’t see anything, but Frodo apparently died and he nudged him because his brother chose to remain silent. Bilbo sent Frodo a dirty look before muttering ‘thank you’ to Thorin.

“No juice for me?” teased Kíli and Thorin sent him a look. But instead of arguing with him he poured some more juice and gave him the glass.

“Would Prince Kíli require something else?” he asked with sarcasm. “Perhaps a straw or some ice?”

“That would be lovely, thanks.” Kíli decided to play along.

Thorin just shook his head and continued eating without saying another word.

:::

After lunch Thorin and Dwalin disappeared who knows where, while the rest of the group stayed at the mansion. It was Fíli who suggested the play some video games and Frodo was immediately up for it. Bilbo, Bofur and Kíli were one team and Fíli, Frodo and Ori were the other. The only three that knew how to play the game were Frodo, Fíli and Kíli, so it wasn’t much of a surprise when Fíli, Frodo and Ori won the game.

“You are very good at this,” commented Fíli. “Have you played this before?”

“Yes. My cousin has this game and we play it every time I come to visit,” explained Frodo.

“That explains why you love going there so much. I’m always bored to death when I’m there,” sighed Bilbo and relaxed on the couch.

“That’s because you always read books. You never do anything fun.”

“So he does the same thing while he is with you?” asked Kíli.

“You mean, he hides in his room and spends hours reading?” asked Frodo and Kíli nodded. “Always. Sometimes I get a feeling he is in love with the books.”

“Hey!” interrupted Bilbo. “I’m right here.”

“We know,” said Kíli and Frodo and started laughing.

“I like books because you can experience an adventure while you are comfortable in your own bed,” explained Bilbo.

“Or you can spend hours fantasizing about romance instead of experiencing the real thing,” added Bofur and winked at Bilbo who blushed.

“I like book,” piped in Ori. “And you shouldn’t judge Bilbo for reading. Sometimes the romance is better in the books than in real life.”

“Oh, if only Dwalin would hear you right now,” smiled Fíli and Ori rolled his eyes.

“This is not about Dwalin and me. And let me tell you something, our love life is-“

“I heard enough!” exclaimed Kíli and covered his ears. “Please don’t torture me.”

Everyone started laughing at Kíli for being such a drama queen.

“You said you have no problem talking about things like that,” reminded him Bilbo.

“I have no problem about talking about things like this in general. Talking about Dwalin…” Kíli trailed off. “He scares me and I really don’t want to have an image of him and Ori in my head. With Thorin it’s different. He is my brother, so it’s perfectly normal for me to be nosy and get all the dirty details about his sex life. You know all the details after all you slept with him…” Everyone in the room stared at Bilbo in complete silence. “Oops,” whispered Kíli.

After a few minutes Fíli spoke. “Who’s in for another round?”

“I am,” everyone exclaimed just so that they could avoid the awkward silence.

A few hours later when it was already dark outside and Bofur just left, Thorin and Dwalin came back.

“Hello love,” greeted Ori. “Ready to go home?” Dwalin only nodded. “I’ll see you all on Monday,” said Ori before he pulled Dwalin out with him.

“I’ll see you on Monday, Thorin,” called Dwalin and allowed Ori to drag him out.

Thorin stared at Frodo who was still playing a game with Fíli and Bilbo realized he should do something too. “We should go too,” said Bilbo and got up from the couch.

“Few more minutes,” pleaded Frodo.

“It’s already late. Mum and dad will be worried.”

Frodo sighed and put down the controller he was holding.

“You are not staying here with us?” asked Kíli.

“No, I promised Thor-“

He was interrupted by Thorin. “He is staying here. He agreed to this so he is staying here.”

“I don’t want to go back alone,” whispered Frodo. “It’s dark outside.”

“I’ll go with you,” offered Bilbo. He looked at Thorin for a second only to see he didn’t agree. “And then I’ll come back.”

Fíli sent Thorin a look but Thorin refused to say anything until Kíli started coughing. “I’ll drive you,” offered Thorin.

“There is no need. I can escort him, really, no problem.” Bilbo was doing his best to avoid Thorin until Frodo pinched him. “Auch… Why…” The look that Frodo sent him said more than thousand words could. “That would be lovely, thank you.”

They followed Thorin down to the garage. Frodo had been so rarely in the car that he was really excited. Thorin’s car was nice and big, and Frodo was a little disappointed he had to sit in the backseat. “Nice car.”

“Thanks,” said Thorin and Bilbo had to roll his eyes. His brother was trying to have a conversation with Thorin. Waste of time and breath, Bilbo thought. He was never able to have a longer conversation with Thorin without arguing so why would with Frodo be any different.

“Did your parents buy it?”

“Frodo,” warned Bilbo.

Thorin ignored him. “No, actually I bought it.”

“It must have cost a fortune,” Frodo guessed.

Thorin smiled. “Yeah, it wasn’t cheap.”

“Did you have to work long so that you could afford it?” Frodo continued his interrogation.

“A few years.”

“Oh.”

“I worked with my father during summer holidays. I was paid a little better than everyone else, but I still had to work.”

“That’s so cool. I want to have a car like this one day.”

Bilbo just sulked into the car seat and didn’t say another word. All the way back Thorin and Frodo had a lovely conversation and ignored him. It appeared that Thorin took a liking to his little brother and Bilbo wasn’t happy about this. How was it possible that Frodo was able to have a conversation with Thorin and he couldn’t? It just wasn't bloody fair!

Finally the car stopped at their house. “Thanks for the ride, Thorin,” called Frodo.

_Thorin… So you two are already on first name basis. You spent… what? ... ten minutes with him and you are acting like he is your best friend._

“No problem,” smiled Thorin.

“I’ll come and visit sometimes.”

“You are always welcome at our house.”

“Bye Thorin,” waved Frodo before he went into the house.

“Brat,” muttered Bilbo under his breath and sulked into the seat. He crossed his arms over his chest and stared out of the window while Thorin turned the car around so they could return back to the house.

After a few minutes of silence Thorin spoke: “Have I done something to upset you?”

“No, nothing. Absolutely nothing.” Thorin knew that Bilbo was upset about something but he didn’t question him further. “Just get us back as soon as possible,” ordered Bilbo.

Thorin did as he was told without any questions asked.

:::

The weekend passed very quickly. They had a party on Friday, they had to clean everything on Saturday so that meant that Sunday was reserved for studying and doing school work. Thráin and Valla returned just in time for dinner so they all ate together in complete silence. After what happened the last time everyone was at the dinner table together no one dared to speak.

Bilbo was happy to be back at school on Monday, but he had this feeling that something will go terribly wrong. He was just hoping that this thing won’t be his history test. But if you would ask Bilbo he would tell you that things were even worse.

“I like him,” said Frodo as he sat next to his brother on the bus. “I don’t know why you don’t like him. He is very polite and he was nice to you all the time while I was there.”

“Do we have to talk about this?” complained Bilbo.

“Yes. Why do you hate him so much?”

“You are joking right?” asked Bilbo with disbelief.

“Don’t say because he got you pregnant. No one would believe you.”

Bilbo sighed. He didn’t want to talk about Thorin. “I hate him because he is an ass, a bully, an idiot who doesn’t know how to behave and I-“

“Love him so much that I spend hours a day dreaming about kissing him,” finished Frodo.

“That’s not true,” lied Bilbo.

Frodo just shrugged. “I don’t understand why you don’t just do it. I can assure you that he won’t stop you. I dare to say that you will do more than just kiss.”

Bilbo turned red. “This is your station, you need to leave,” he said and pushed Frodo off the seat.

“Fine. You can deny this as long as you want but you know I’m right.”

Deep down Bilbo knew that Frodo was right. He still liked Thorin but that doesn’t mean he will forgive him for everything he said or did to him. The history test was easy so Bilbo was worried for nothing in the morning, but the day wasn’t over yet. He quickly finished his lunch and because he had one free period he decided to kill some time and go to the school library to do some studying.

Thorin was also having an amazing day and it kept getting better and better. He was walking with Dwalin down the hall when suddenly something or better said someone caught his attention in the library.

“Look who is here,” said Thorin and pointed through the window. “We should go and say hello.” Thorin was about to enter when Dwalin stopped him.

“Are you obsessed with him or something? You are acting like a crazy fan girl.”

“No I’m not.”

“You talk about him all the time, you search for him all the time, don’t even try to deny it, I see you when we walk down the hallways. I know about your every encounter with him, every detail of every conversation and I know you think about him all the time. If you like him so much just tell him.”

Thorin eyed his friend with disbelief. “I don’t like him.”

“Sure you don’t.”

“I really don’t. He is the most annoying person I’ve ever met.”

“Look who is talking,” snorted Dwalin.

“I’m just making things even. Eye for an eye.” Thorin thought about it for a second and Dwalin panicked a little when he saw the look on his face.

“Thorin don’t. You’ll regret it,” he warned.

“No I won’t,” answered Thorin a little too confident. “I just need to go to the cafeteria first. I’ve suddenly become very hungry.”

Dwalin just shook his head and followed him without saying another word. This was exciting at the beginning but it will end in disaster. A couple of minutes later Thorin entered the library carrying a tray with lunch from the cafeteria.

“Bilbo Baggins!” he called. “I have a special delivery for Mr. Baggins.”

“Mr. Durin what do you think are you doing?”

“I’m sorry Mrs. Charlotte, but I have a special delivery for Mr. Baggins.” Thorin spoke louder than necessary just to prove his point. He knew where Bilbo was but this was part of the game.

“Mr. Durin need I remind you that food is not allowed in the library?”

“No need!”

“Could you not speak so loud?”

“I’m sorry but I really need to find Mr. Baggins.” Thorin pretended to look around. “Oh, there he is.”

Before the library could say anything else Thorin was almost next to Bilbo. Bilbo wanted nothing more but to disappear when Thorin entered the library and started calling his name.

“Mr. Baggins, your lunch as requested.” Thorin placed a tray on Bilbo’s books.

“I didn’t ask for this,” Bilbo hissed through his teeth.

Thorin leaned closer and whispered in his ear. “I know. But this is a special delivery.”

“I’m sorry for interrupting you!” apologized Thorin to everyone before he disappeared.

Everyone looked at Bilbo visibly angry. “I didn’t tell him to bring me this. I already ate,” he tried to explain but it was already too late. He was sure only about one thing. This meant war!

:::

Bilbo was furious at Thorin and he will show this to him the moment he will get home. He told Bofur what happened but his friend told him that he got what he deserved after what he did to Thorin on Friday. If possible, Bilbo became even angrier.

He got from school as quickly as possible because he wanted to have a word with Thorin.

“Thorin!” Bilbo yelled after the doors behind him closed with a loud thud. “Thorin!” He received no answer, but by the noise that was coming from the living room he was guessing that Thorin was there.

Thorin was lying on the couch, watching TV and smiling when Bilbo entered the room but he didn’t look at him until Bilbo stepped between him and the TV screen. “You are blocking my view.”

“Argh,” groaned Bilbo. “How dare you do something like this?!”

“Didn’t you get my note?” asked Thorin and lay on his back so that Bilbo was looking down on him.

Bilbo did get his note. _Payback :-)_ was written on the napkin that was on the tray. Bilbo pulled the napkin out of his pocket and threw it at Thorin. “Because of you I got suspended from the library for a month!”

“Because of you I didn’t get laid for a month,” Thorin answered back.

“That’s not the same.”

“Yes it is. I have my needs, you have yours.”

“You crossed the line this time.”

“You crossed it long ago,” reminded him Thorin.

“I hate you!”

“No you don’t,” smiled Thorin. Before Bilbo was able to storm away Thorin caught him by his wrist and pulled him on the couch so that Bilbo was lying on his chest. Even though Bilbo tried to fight it, Thorin was very strong and had no problem holding him close to him.

“Let go of me,” said Bilbo and tried to push himself off Thorin, but Thorin held him firm.

“Just admit that you like me and I will.”

“Never,” answered Bilbo, angrier this time. Thorin held him down with his legs and with one hand while the other travelled lower on Bilbo’s back until it reached Bilbo’s butt. Bilbo’s eyes went wide and he stopped moving for a second so that he could look Thorin in the eyes. Their lips were only centimeters apart and he was able to feel Thorin’s heavy breathing. Once again they were in the situation where they could kiss. It was very tempting for Bilbo to do so and the look in Thorin’s eyes was telling him to go for it. Thorin was thinking the same. He wanted nothing more but to capture these lips into a passionate kiss. They stared at each other for a few seconds too long because once again they were interrupted.

“Are we interrupting something?” the twins asked as they walked into the living room only to find Bilbo lying on top of their brother in, what you could say, rather compromising position.

Thorin immediately released Bilbo from his strong grip so that Bilbo was able to get off of him. “Nope,” answered Bilbo, embarrassed that they were caught, again, before he fled the room.

Thorin turned around, grabbed the remote and pretended that nothing happened.

“All right then,” answered Fíli before joining Thorin on the couch.

**-TBC-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Some of you found me on Tumblr and sent me a lot of interesting questions. I tried to answer them the best I could. You can send them more, I’ll be more than happy to answer them. For those who don’t know I post Sneak Peeks on Tumblr for the chapter that I’m writing. I usually post at least two for The Crown of Sonnets, but rarely for The Miracle of Love (I do it if someone requests otherwise I keep the chapter a secret until it’s finished). I almost forgot. I’m b_blueberry on Tumblr (no surprises, really).
> 
> I had so much fun writing this chapter. After the response I received for the previous one I knew I had to write something fast. I said max. 3,500 words… this is obviously not happening because it’s so hard to end the chapter when things get really interesting. So tell me what you think about this chapter and the relationship between Bilbo and Thorin and I’ll see you at the next chapter (or on Tumbrl).


	13. Chapter 13

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine.

**“E arriverà il sapore del bacio più dolce e un abbraccio che ti scalderà…”**

“And it will come, the taste of the sweetest kiss and an embrace that will warm you…”

Kíli stood there for a moment, unsure what to think. Thorin just lied to them, that much was obvious, but then why was Bilbo lying on top of him? Something must have happened and Kíli was determined to find out. He left Fíli and Thorin in the living room, and decided to find Bilbo. It wasn’t very hard to find him, because, as expected, Bilbo was it the kitchen, going through the fridge pretending that nothing happened.

“Bilbo,” greeted Kíli as he entered the kitchen.

“Oh, Kíli. I didn’t see you enter.” Bilbo did his best to sound surprised to find out that Kíli followed him, but he knew he failed miserably. “Would you like something to eat?”

“No I’m fine,” answered Kíli. “Listen, I wanted to ask you something-“

“I’m so sorry Kíli, but I’m very busy today,” interrupted Bilbo.

“Sure you are,” snorted Kíli. He watched Bilbo avoid him for another few minutes by going through the kitchen cabinets, pretending that he was searching for something, before he spoke again: “What happened in the living room with my brother?” Bilbo turned around and eyed him, but when he opened his mouth to say something Kíli added: “Don’t even try to say ‘nothing’. I know what I saw.”

Bilbo slowly leaned back on the counter before he answered. “I was feeling dizzy and Thorin caught me before I would faint.” He knew there was little chance that Kíli would buy his lie.

“Mr. Gandalf was right,” started Kíli. “You are a terrible liar. Why is it so difficult for you to tell me what happened?”

“Because he wants me to admit I like him!” Bilbo said louder than he would want to.  Anger and frustration could be heard in his tone, but it was just a cover to conceal how he truly felt.

“And do you?”

“Do I what?” asked Bilbo.

“Like him,” clarified Kíli.

“Of course not,” scoffed Bilbo.

Kíli’s smiled grew even wider. “You, Master Baggins, are a terrible liar.” Kíli smiled and exited the kitchen.

“No… that’s… it’s not…” Bilbo lost his words. “I’m telling you the truth,” he shouted after him, “I swear.” He sighed. “I don’t like him,” he repeated quietly. _I really don’t._

In the meantime, Fíli was having almost the same conversation with Thorin.

“So,” started Fíli, “What were you two doing when we walked in?”

“I already told you,” sighed Thorin, “Nothing.” He was very annoyed that he had to repeat everything.

“He was lying on top of you,” pointed out Fíli.

“Why can’t you leave me alone?” asked Thorin, annoyed by this interrogation.

“Because there is obviously something between the two of you,” explained Fíli. “I know what I witnessed Saturday morning and I can tell you that this wasn’t much different.”

“Leave me alone,” growled Thorin.

“Tell me what happened,” insisted Fíli.

“Leave me alone!” repeated Thorin, stood up, threw the remote back on the couch and left the room. As Thorin left Kíli walked into the room.

“What got him so upset?”

“I asked too many questions,” explained Fíli.

“And? Did he tell you anything?”

Fíli just shook his head. “You? Did you talk to Bilbo?”

“Yes,” said Kíli and sat down next to his brother. “He tried to sell me a story that no one would believe. Something about him feeling dizzy and almost fainting and Thorin being a gentleman. Like I said, no one would believe him.”

“You know, this is not the first time I caught them like this,” said Fíli.

“Really?” Kíli was generally surprised. “What else do you know?”

“On Saturday morning I saw them together in the center of the living room. I’m sure that they would have kissed if I wouldn’t interrupt them.”

“Are you serious?” asked Kíli who couldn’t believe what Fíli was telling him. “They would probably kiss today if we wouldn’t interrupt them.”

“Probably,” agreed Fíli.

“A few minutes ago I asked Bilbo if he likes Thorin.”

“And?” Fíli wanted to know more.

“He doesn’t know how to lie.”

“I cannot believe this. Someone actually likes Thorin. No, this is not happening,” laughed Fíli. “The end is coming.” The both started laughing. “So what are we going to do?”

“Absolutely nothing,” answered Kíli. Fíli couldn’t believe what he was hearing. His brother always wanted to intervene, but now he didn’t want to. Something was seriously wrong in the world. “The best thing to do now is nothing. If we do something they will know and they will ignore each other even more. At this point they are both in denial and because of that they will do their best to irritate each other. When the time is right we will intervene, but for now we have to let them release their frustration and anger that came with these new feelings they are experiencing.”

Fíli started at Kíli with disbelief. “When did you get so smart?”

“Please,” scoffed Kíli. “Don’t forget who you are talking too. I’m the smart one around here.”

Fíli couldn’t help but laugh. “Just because Bilbo helped you get a good grade at history that doesn’t mean you are the smartest one in the house.”

“You didn’t get a good grade,” Kíli pointed out.

“That’s because I didn’t have Bilbo to help me. But you will see, next time it’s my turn and you will see who is really smart around here.” Kíli just shook his head and they both started laughing.

:::

Later in the day Bilbo was having difficulty concentrating on anything. He spent twice as much time doing his homework because he kept thinking about Thorin. Frodo was right, he was daydreaming about Thorin. To be precise, he was dreaming about kissing Thorin. It was so difficult to focus on anything else when he craved for Thorin’s touch. He will deny it, but he rather enjoyed Thorin’s hands on him even if they were on some inappropriate places. And there was Saturday and their dance, and their kiss.

_Well, almost kiss. We didn’t kiss and I would never kiss him. Nope, never. Denial! I’m arguing with myself, great. I just reached a new level of crazy. You would totally go for it. No! I wouldn’t. Yes you would. Stop telling me what I would do. I had the chance and I didn’t kiss him. More like: I had a chance and I didn’t take it. Don’t be such a smart-ass. I am you. We are both very smart. True. And we both like Thorin. True… No! That’s not true. Denial. Arghhh, just stop talking._

Bilbo put down the book he was trying to read. It was pointless anyway. The only thing that would make him feel better was Thorin. But sadly, Bilbo was too proud to go talk to Thorin, even like a friend. He had only one choice left. He needed to get Thorin out of his head as soon as possible. He got up and headed downstairs because he needed to clear his head and a short walk should do the trick.

He needed to use the bathroom first, but he was too lazy to go back upstairs. He wasn’t planning on doing anything until Nola gave him a wonderful idea.

He entered the bathroom as Nola exited, holding an empty laundry basket. “Don’t touch the washing machine. It’s already prepared and I just need to get another shirt from Thorin before I will turn it on.”

“Another shirt?” questioned Bilbo.

“Yes today I’m washing his favorite white shirts and I forgot one. They need to be washed with delicacy otherwise a get a speech from him.”

Bilbo nodded. “I won’t do anything.” He closed the door and for some strange reason he found himself staring at the washing machine. He felt an urgent need to do something really stupid and it was so hard to resist. Thorin got him suspended from his favorite place in the school so he had to pay him back somehow. He quickly checked if Nola was around before he pulled one of his red socks off and threw it in the washing machine. He was deciding to throw the other one in, but that would make it too obvious. He closed the washing machine the last second before Nola walked in.

“Everything alright?” she asked him.

“Yap,” smiled Bilbo before he fled the bathroom, his walk to clear his mind completely forgotten. Revenge is a dish best served cold, or better said: revenge is best served in a form of colored laundry. He ran up to his room and buried himself in the books. He would need to wait at least two hours before the results would be seen.

Two and a half hours later Nola went to check the laundry. By now it should be washed and dried so the only thing that she would need to do was fold it and take it up to Thorin.

She couldn’t believe her eyes when she pulled the clothes out. Thorin’s white shirts, pants and underwear were colored in light-red. No, this couldn’t be happening, she thought. She checked everything before she put it in and she was sure that she would have notice a red sock that was now between the clothes. She folded everything neatly, put it in a basket, swallowed hard and went to Thorin’s room.

“Thorin,” she knocked on the door.

“Come in.”

“I’m sorry to disturb you, but I need to tell you something.”

Thorin’s eyes widened when he saw his favorite shirts colored in light red. “What happened,” he cried.

“I put your clothes into a washing machine like always and I swear that I checked everything, but I missed this sock.” Nola showed the sock to Thorin and he immediately knew who was behind all of this. “I’m so sorry Thorin. I really am. I know this are you favorite shirts and I will-“

“You don’t need to apologize,” interrupted Thorin and took the basket from her. “Accidents happen.” He looked at his clothes and he could feel anger building up in him. “Besides, it’s just clothes. Nothing that can’t be replaced.” Nola apologized again and left the room. Thorin stared at the sock for a moment before he decided that he wanted to speak with a certain someone who was very fond of wearing red socks.

He entered Bilbo’s bedroom without knocking. “Hey, don’t you know how to…” he trailed off when Thorin threw him the sock.

“I believe this is yours.” It took Bilbo almost a minute before he collected himself after the initial shock. He didn’t expect that Thorin would be so calm about it. Bilbo shook his head and stared at Thorin. “So you are saying this is not yours?”

“It’s mine,” confirmed Bilbo.

“Nice,” said Thorin nonchalantly. “Thank you.”

He was about to leave but Bilbo stopped him. “That’s it? You have nothing else to say to me?”

Thorin eyed him for a second. “It must have been an accident,” he said as calmly as he could. “That’s the only reason why you are wearing only one sock isn’t it?” Bilbo’s eyes widened. He completely forgot about that detail. “You won’t say anything?” Bilbo remained silent and Thorin dropped his calm mask. “Since you enjoyed so much ruining my clothes let me tell you this: this means war, no rules, just you and me.”

“This is all your fault!” accused Bilbo.

Thorin stepped closer and Bilbo took a cautionary step back. “Let me remind you that it was you who started this.”

Bilbo groaned. “You and your build up frustration. Can’t you find someone else to torture?”

“I chose you, darling.” Thorin smirked and headed for the doors. “I would be worried if I were you,” warned Thorin before he left.

Bilbo had to admit that he was a little worried about Thorin’s words, but if it is a war that Thorin wants it’s a war he will get.

:::

The next morning Bilbo woke up a little later than he normally would. He got dressed as quickly as possible and hurried downstairs to the kitchen where he was planning to have breakfast with Fíli and Kíli. He couldn’t believe his eyes when he saw Thorin sitting with them.

“Morning,” greeted Thorin and Bilbo shivered at the smile Thorin sent him.  He didn’t say anything he just sat down and started eating his breakfast. He didn’t dare to look up from his plate because he knew that Thorin was watching his every move. Fíli and Kíli found their behaviour strange, but they didn’t say anything, it was more fun to watch them anyway. After a couple of minutes Thorin took a glass and filled it. “Juice,” he offered to Bilbo, who finally looked up.

Bilbo nodded and accepted the glass. He was about to take a sip, but stopped at the last second. “No, thank you,” he said, stood up and emptied his glass in the sink. Fíli and Kíli were looking at him like he lost his mind. “I’m not stupid you know.” He opened the fridge and poured some juice in his glass. Thorin was watching his every move with a small smile on his lips. Bilbo took a sip, but the very next second spit everything out over himself. The boys started laughing. “What’s wrong with this juice?”

“I would say that someone made a mistake and added salt instead of sugar,” explained Thorin while he watched Bilbo try to clean his shirt. “It tastes a little different,” continued to tease Thorin. Just to prove Bilbo that he won this round he poured some juice for himself from the same jug that he previously filled Bilbo’s glass. “This, on the other hand, is perfect.” Fíli and Kíli couldn’t stop laughing. “Let’s go,” ordered Thorin and left the kitchen with a smile on his lips.

“What happened?” asked Nola when she came into the kitchen a couple of minutes after the boys left.

“I accidentally spilled the juice all over me,” explained Bilbo.

“Don’t worry about it. Go change quickly, or you’ll be late for school. I’ll clean this up.”

Bilbo nodded and hurried upstairs to change. He had to admit that Thorin played him rather nicely. This was a war and that bastard seemed to be enjoying the game a little too much. Thorin was winning, but not for long because Bilbo had a few good ideas how to annoy him.

:::

It was in the middle of the night when Bilbo woke up with a mission. He knew he had to be quiet when he entered Thorin’s bedroom. It was dark so he didn’t see much, but you didn’t have to be a genius to find Thorin’s phone on his desk. He couldn’t stop grinning while he changed a few things on Thorin’s phone. That bastard will be so embarrassed when he’ll notice the changes that were made on his phone. Bilbo put the phone back where he found it and quietly returned to his bedroom.

But he wasn’t the only one who was up that night. Thorin woke up approximately an hour later and decided to visit Bilbo. He crept into Bilbo’s bedroom with one goal in his mind. He wanted to sabotage Bilbo’s alarm clock. This shouldn’t be too hard since the only thing he needed to do was turn it off. But the problem was that Thorin wasn’t able to walk so quietly and he almost woke Bilbo up when he accidentally hit the chair and cursed loudly. Luckily for him, Bilbo didn’t wake up and he managed to turn the alarm off before he went back to sleep.

:::

Bilbo was extremely confused when he woke up the next morning. It was much brighter outside than it should be and strangely his alarm clock didn’t wake him up. He rolled on his bed to check the time. “It’s ten! No, no, no, no… This is not happening.” Bilbo got out of the bed and got dressed as quickly as possible. He couldn’t believe he overslept. He remembered turning on the alarm, but he didn’t remember turning it off. Bilbo checked the alarm clock to see if it was working. Everything appeared to be in order. This only had one explanation: Thorin.

When he got to the school, the first thing he noticed was Thorin smiling at him. Bilbo hated that smile, because that smile meant that Thorin won, again. He ignored him and hurried inside.

“So Bilbo finally came to school. Can we go back inside now?” asked Dwalin.

“Did you see the look on his face?” smiled Thorin. “Totally worth all the trouble.”

“Congratulations,” said Dwalin, not really meaning it. “You have successfully become an idiot.” Thorin sent him a look and Dwalin just shook his head before he continued. “Thorin, you woke up in the middle of the night so that you could turn his alarm off. Seriously, how old are you?”

Thorin rolled his eyes. “It’s not important what I did, the only thing important here is the result. And the look on his face is the best result possible.”

Dwalin wanted to say something, but stopped when he heard a strange ringtone. “Do you hear this?” Dwalin laughed. “What kind of loser has this for his ringtone?” The both looked around to find _that_ looser, but there was nobody there. “Thorin,” started Dwalin carefully, “This is your phone ringing isn’t it?” He was barely containing his laughter.

“No, this is not my… phone,” finished Thorin when he pulled his phone out of his pocket. “What? How? This… Oh, I’m going to kill him!”

Dwalin couldn’t stop laughing. “And your phone is password protected. He definitely won this round.”

“He didn’t win,” hissed Thorin and quickly changed his ringtone back to normal. “This is just the beginning. He didn’t win.”

“Just accept it. He beat you fair and square.” Dwalin continued to laugh. “I’m your best friend and I don’t know your password. He is living with you for a few short weeks and he was able to figure it out. Brilliant, simply brilliant.”

“Oh, shut up,” said Thorin before he headed back inside, Dwalin followed close behind.

:::

Bilbo forgot what happened in the morning the minute he saw Fíli, Kíli and Bofur waiting for him after school.

“How are you?” asked Kíli.

“I’m okay. Why?”

“Because you didn’t come down for breakfast this morning. We waited for you but when you didn’t show up we started eating,” explained Kíli.

“I didn’t come down because someone, read Thorin, turned off my alarm. I was late for school!”

“How horrible,” laughed Fíli.

“Why can’t you just ignore him?” asked Bofur, irritated.

“Why would he do that?” asked Kíli. “He likes Thorin.”

Bilbo blushed. “N-no I don’t like him,” he corrected. “And I never will. He annoys me too much.”

“I agree, stay away from him,” said Bofur.

“Hey, that’s my brother you are talking about.” Kíli pointed out. “What did he do to you that you hate him so much?”

“Nothing, but he is mean to-“

“Leave him out of this,” interrupted Fíli.

“Can you please stop,” requested Bilbo. “I will deal with Thorin, don’t worry over him Bofur, you are a good friend.”

Fíli and Kíli couldn’t believe their eyes when Bilbo squeezed Bofur’s hand reassuringly. This was just wrong. “You like Thorin, don’t you?” asked Kíli so that Bilbo would release Bofur’s hand.

“He doesn’t like him,” answered Bofur instead of him.

“Excuse me, they asked me,” cut Bilbo. He turned to Kíli. “For a millionth time, I don’t like Thorin.”

“So then why were you lying on top of him?” asked Kíli. He knew that Bofur won’t be able to let this go.

“Why were you lying on top of him?!” Bofur asked with disbelief.

“He practically pulled me onto him,” explained Bilbo.

“I thought you were feeling dizzy,” commented Fíli. Bilbo suddenly lost his ability to speak.

“What are you and Thorin doing when you are together?” asked Bofur.

“Nothing,” answered Bilbo. “We don’t do anything together.”

“Except dance, lay on each other and play stupid games,” summarized Fíli.

“I thought you learned your lessons with Thorin,” commented Bofur who was visibly upset.

“I’m doing his best to avoid him,” tried to explain Bilbo but Bofur just shook his head. He knew that Bilbo had a crush on Thorin but he was still hoping that his friend wouldn’t spend so much time with him.

:::

They came home very quickly and Bilbo was a little surprised that Thorin wasn’t already there. He had some things to do for school since he missed the first few classes, but he finished quickly and then helped Fíli with his history homework. He enjoyed spending time with twins because they were always nice to him and they both made him laugh.

“Dinner’s ready,” called Kíli. “Warning: dad’s home.”

Bilbo knew what that meant. It meant a very awkward dinner with the whole family. He was right, of course. The tension in the room between Thorin and Thráin was so thick one could almost cut it with a knife.  They ate in silence, up to the moment when Nola brought something to Bilbo. “This was just delivered for you,” she whispered. Bilbo thanked her and accepted the box that was wrapped in a little too much duct tape.

“What did you get?” asked Kíli and leaned over to take a better look.

Bilbo shrugged. “I have no idea. I didn’t order anything.” He gently shook the box. He didn’t hear anything and the box was surprisingly light.

“Aren’t you going to open it?” asked Thorin.

Bilbo looked at him and noticed that everyone was looking at him, even Thráin. “Hmm, yes I will.” Bilbo tried to open the box but he was having some trouble. “Help me,” he said to Kíli. Together they pulled the cardboard box open, only to have its content fly all over the dinner table. Thorin couldn’t help but to burst out laughing, while everyone else remained quiet, unsure how to react.

“Thorin, a word,” gritted Thráin, through his teeth and stood up. Thorin stopped laughing and followed his father out of the dining room.

 Fíli and Kíli bowed their heads low so that they wouldn’t start laughing, while Bilbo and Valla stared at each other.

“Condoms,” said Valla and picked one up from her soup. Fíli and Kíli couldn’t contain their laughter anymore and started laughing.

“Best timing, ever,” laughed Kíli. His mother shot him a look but he didn’t stop laughing.

“I’m so sorry,” apologized Bilbo. “I didn’t know-“

“Don’t worry dear,” interrupted Valla. “Let’s forget that this ever happened. I think we should call Nola and tell her to bring the rest of the food.”

Fíli picked a few wrappers from the salad and another one from his plate. “Such a waste,” he sighed and his mother sent him a look. “Of the food, I mean.”

Kíli, on the other hand, collected as much as he could (but not from the food). “This should do for a while, since I don’t know where Thorin hides them anymore.”

“Kíli!” exclaimed Valla.

“What? I don’t want to be a parent at fifteen,” defended Kíli. His mother visibly calmed down. Kíli’s answer actually made a lot of sense to her and it was still easier to accept the fact that her fifteen-year-old son was sexually active than the fact that she will be a grandmother.

Bilbo wanted to do nothing else but to run to his bedroom and hide in there for the rest of his life. He was so embarrassed he wasn’t sure he would be able to look anyone in the eyes again. At least the boys seemed to have a lot of fun.

They helped to clean the table and Nola brought them something else to eat. They ate alone because Thráin and Thorin didn’t return.

In fact, he didn’t see either of them for two days and Bilbo started to worry that something was wrong. Thorin didn’t come to school and he wasn’t at home, and the worst thing was that no one knew where he was.

Two days later Thorin finally came back. It was already dark outside and Bilbo and the twins were in the living room, watching TV, when they heard the garage door opening. Bilbo let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding when he heard familiar footsteps go up the stairs. He and the boys went to check if this was really Thorin that came back.

And it really was, more or less. Bilbo gasped when he saw him. His face was covered in blood, his clothes were ruined and he generally looked like he was in the fight. He had a nasty cut on his forehead and some bruises, but he was still in one piece.

“What happened,” cried Bilbo in worry when he saw him. Thorin ignored him and hurried upstairs to the bathroom. Bilbo wanted to follow him, but the boys pulled him back.

“Don’t go,” said Fíli. “He is not in the mood for a company, trust me. It’s better to leave him alone at this point.”

“What happened to him? He is covered in blood.”

“He was probably in the fight,” explained Fíli. “Now let’s get back to the living room.”

“No!” protested Bilbo and pulled from Fíli’s grasp on him.

“Bilbo don’t! He is very hostile when he is in pain.” Bilbo ignored Fíli’s warning and ran after Thorin. He needed to make sure he was alright.

He knocked on the door and entered the room. “Get out!” roared Thorin and Bilbo took a step backwards, but didn’t leave. “Get. Out.” Repeated Thorin. Bilbo took in the sight. Thorin was covered in blood, he managed to pull the medical kit out, he washed his hands, but he was shaking. Bilbo knew this was the pain talking so he took a step closer to Thorin to get a better look at the cut on his forehead.

“I need to clean this up, otherwise it won’t heal properly and it will leave a scar,” he said as calmly as he could. Thorin didn’t say anything he just stared in Bilbo’s eyes. Bilbo quickly scanned Thorin with his eyes and discovered there was some blood leaking through his shirt. “May I?” he asked and slowly reached for Thorin’s shirt. Thorin allowed him to lift his shirt and pull it off completely. Bilbo lost himself on Thorin’s muscular chest for a moment, but he quickly remembered the reason why Thorin wasn’t wearing his shirt anymore. There was a cut on his torso, it wasn’t deep, but Bilbo still needed to clean it.

He dipped a towel in warm water and gently cleaned the blood off Thorin. He heard him hiss several times, especially when he went over one of his bruises, but Thorin didn’t stop him. “This will hurt,” said Bilbo and cleaned the cut with some alcohol. Thorin cursed loudly. “I’m sorry.”

“It’s okay. Just do it quickly,” said Thorin and closed his eyes for a moment.

Bilbo worked as fast as he could and quickly cleaned the wound and put a bandage over it. Thorin was taller than him so he had trouble cleaning the cut on Thorin’s forehead. “This isn’t working,” complained Bilbo. He looked around the bathroom to see what he could use. “Sit here,” he ordered and pushed Thorin back so that he was sitting on the edge of the bathtub. Bilbo stepped between his legs and was now given better access to the cut on Thorin’s forehead.

Thorin hissed in pain and Bilbo apologized several times, but Thorin still couldn’t relax. He needed to find something to hold on to. With Bilbo standing so close to him, his hand quickly found their way on Bilbo’s hips and pulled him closer. Bilbo didn’t mind because he knew that Thorin was in pain, but Thorin could not stay relaxed for long, and every time Bilbo applied some pressure on the cut Thorin tighten his grip on Bilbo, to the point when the younger boy stopped him.

“It hurts, Thorin.” Thorin released Bilbo as soon as he spoke those words. His hands were now between him and Bilbo’s belly. Thorin knew that Bilbo had a small belly, he still remembered how it felt under his palm, but now he didn’t dare to reach for it. Bilbo, on the other hand, noticed Thorin looking at his belly and decided to help him. He took Thorin’s hands and pressed them on his belly.

For the next few minutes Thorin was so focused on Bilbo’s belly that he completely forgot about the pain. His hands wandered all over the belly like they were trying to remember every curve of it.

“Here, almost like new,” announced Bilbo and offered a smile to Thorin who was now finally able to tear his eyes from Bilbo’s abdomen. “You should watch it for the next couple of days so that it doesn’t become infected, but other than that you should be fine.”

“Thank you,” said Thorin and stood up. He reached for his ruined shirt and started putting the medical kit back together.

“You don’t need to do that,” said Bilbo. “You should get some sleep. I’ll clean this up.”

Thorin nodded and headed for the door but stopped in the last second. He turned toward Bilbo, closed the distance between them and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. “Thank you,” was the last thing he said before he fled the room.

Bilbo stood there for a moment, processing what just happened. Slowly he felt his cheeks warm up and he knew he was blushing. He was screaming inside with excitement. Thorin kissed him. Thorin actually kissed him. He couldn’t help but smile at the thought of Thorin’s warm, moist and soft lips on his. He wanted more because it just wasn’t fair that Thorin got to steal a kiss from him. He wanted to steal one too. Not just one, but a million kisses from Thorin.

He smiled at the thought of Thorin kissing him and he couldn’t stop thinking about Thorin while he cleaned everything. He would give anything if he could feel Thorin’s lips on his again.

**-TBC-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It happened, but you can guess what will happen in the next one. I’m still not very happy about this chapter, but I’m out of ideas. I just needed something to create the atmosphere for the next one. I know you probably have a lot of questions what happened to Thorin and I promise that you will understand everything in the next few chapters.
> 
> I want to thank everyone for the amazing response. All your comments, messages and questions on Tumblr. Seriously, they are my drug :D
> 
> Let me know what you think and I’ll see you soon :-)
> 
> [Cat of Cream](http://catofcream.tumblr.com/) did the first fan-art for this story. You can find it [here](http://catofcream.tumblr.com/post/110973755949/im-not-sure-if-i-understand-your-question). It's the most perfect thing ever! Thank you so much :)


	14. Chapter 14

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine.

**“When I wake up in the mornin' light I pull on my jeans and I feel all right…”**

For Bilbo, the night that followed was one of the longest ones in his life. He couldn’t sleep. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn’t sleep. He felt like that kiss melted his brain. After thinking about it for a few hours Bilbo came to a conclusion that it wasn’t a mind blowing kiss. They kissed before they had sex and that time tongue was involved. Still, Bilbo couldn’t understand why a simple kiss, nothing special really, meant so much to him. It was driving him crazy. He remembered Thorin’s hands on his belly. Thorin’s strong and muscular hands were so gentle, so caring that Bilbo forgot for a moment about everything that happened between them. For a moment he believed that Thorin cared for the baby and that he could come to love it one day. And then that kiss, that simple kiss turned his world upside down.

The big question was _why Thorin kissed him_? He wanted to know why Thorin did what he did so he was standing at his bedroom door a few times that night, but he didn’t dare to knock. It would be awkward for both of them. But he really wanted to know and he wanted another kiss, although he would never admit that to anyone. No, everyone else had to believe that he hated Thorin, because he did hate him, but he didn’t. It was all very confusing.

He kept thinking about what happened until he fell asleep almost at dawn. He got almost three hours of sleep before the alarm woke him up, and even though he was tired and sleepy he jumped from the bed because a new day meant that he would get to see Thorin again. He would even suffer one of Thorin’s stupid games, if only he could spend some time with him. But sadly when he came down to the kitchen Thorin was nowhere in sight.

“Morning, Bilbo.” Kíli offered one of those smiles that indicated that he knew something others didn’t and Bilbo had a very good idea what that could be.

“Morning…”

“So how did you sleep?” casually asked Kíli while he was eating his pancakes.

“I didn’t-“

“I know that,” smirked Kíli.

“I just couldn’t,” tried to explain Bilbo. “I kept tossing around and I couldn’t find a comfortable positing.”

Kíli nodded. “No kidding. So you weren’t comfortable enough?” Before Bilbo could answer Kíli spoke again. “Thorin’s bed is not comfortable enough for you?”

This time it was Fíli who spit all the juice out. “What?!” He just couldn’t believe what he heard. “You slept with Thorin?”

“No! What? No…” Spluttered Bilbo. “What gave you this idea?”

“Don’t try to deny it. I saw you returning back to your bedroom in the middle of the night and it was clear you were coming from Thorin’s room,” explained Kíli.

“You got this all wrong,” defended Bilbo. “I was never in Thorin’s room last night. You can ask Thorin.”

“Ask me what?” Thorin’s question startled everyone because no one heard him walk in.

“Who were you fighting with?” asked Kíli who forgot for a moment about the conversation they were having. Thorin still looked… Well he looked like someone beat the crap out of him.

Thorin shook his head. “Not important.” He turned to Bilbo. “What did you want to ask me?” His question wasn’t sharp and it sounded like he genuinely wanted to know.

Bilbo just stared at him for a moment. “Nothing,” he answered quickly. “I forgot about what we were talking about,” he lied before focusing back on the food.

Thorin stared at him for another minute, waiting if Bilbo would change his mind and tell him, but no such thing happened. “Are you finished? We should go.” The twins nodded, picked up their bags before they all headed to the garage. “Are you coming with us?” Thorin asked Bilbo before he left the kitchen. Bilbo just stared at him and didn’t say a word. “Bilbo. Car. School. Coming?” Thorin asked like he was talking to an idiot.

“Hmm… Yes! I’m going.” He stood up and made a few steps.

“Bag,” reminded him Thorin and Bilbo just looked at him, confused. “Your bag,” clarified Thorin, but when Bilbo just stared at him without moving Thorin shook his head and picked up his school bag up.

“Yes! My bag. I completely forgot.” He reached for the bag Thorin was now carrying.

“Leave it.”

“No, I can carry it,” protested Bilbo.

“I said: leave it,” snapped Thorin, more sharply that he would want to and Bilbo immediately took a step back. “I’m sorry,” sighed Thorin. “Just let me, we are already late.” Bilbo nodded and followed Thorin to the car.

:::

The day at school was uneventful. Bilbo would say it was boring. Not because nothing happened, but because he didn’t see Thorin all day. He had a few classes with Bofur but that was it. Thorin was occupying his mind through the entire day and it started to annoy him. After school, when he thought things would get better because he had a lot of homework that would occupy his mind, Kíli wanted to walk with him back to the house. And by walk, he meant interrogate.

“We were interrupted this morning,” started Kíli.

“I don’t know what you are talking about,” lied Bilbo.

“Just like you couldn’t remember what you wanted to ask Thorin,” teased Kíli and Bilbo sent him a look. When Kíli wanted he could be really annoying. After a moment Kíli calmed down and continued with a more serious tone. “What were you doing then in the middle of the night?”

Bilbo continued to walk in silence for another few minutes and Kíli followed him without saying a word. “I wanted to talk with him,” he admitted.

“Why?” inquired Kíli, who wanted to get more information out of him.

“No reason.”

“I don’t believe you! No one wakes up in the middle of the night to have a conversation about nothing.” Kíli eyes Bilbo for a second before he realized something. “Something happened between you two! Something happened while you were in the bathroom.”

“No…” lied Bilbo, but failed miserably at his lie. “Nothing happened.”

“Something happened,” stated Kíli firmly. “What happened? Tell me, please.”

“I already told you. Nothing happened. I cleaned his cuts and that’s it.”

“You are lying,” accused Kíli. “Why is it always so hard to get something out of you? I always had to beg-“

“Thorin kissed me.”

That for sure made Kíli stop talking. At first he looked surprised but after a few moments he smiled widely. “He kissed you? Did he really kiss you?” he asked excitedly.

“Well, yeah,” confirmed Bilbo, unsure why Kíli was so happy about this.

“I’m so happy for you,” said Kíli and pulled Bilbo into an embrace. “Welcome to the family.” Bilbo just stared at him, unsure what to say. It was just a kiss they didn’t start dating.

“We are not together. You do know that, don’t you?”

Kíli just smiled. “Let me tell you how many times my big brother kissed someone and didn’t have sex with-“

“We did have sex,” interrupted Bilbo. It looked like Kíli liked to forget things and create his own theories about things.

“You didn’t let me finish,” pointed out Kíli. “Do you know how many times my big brother, Thorin, not Fíli,” clarified Kíli just so that Bilbo could roll his eyes, “kissed someone and didn’t have sex with that person afterward.” Bilbo decided to play this game and shook his head so that Kíli would finally tell him. “Up until today, or better said last night there was much research done on my brother’s sex life. You see, Thorin’s mind works differently-“

“Kíli!” Bilbo had enough of Kíli teasing him. He just wanted the answer not a presentation of Thorin’s sex life.

“Fine,” sighed Kíli. “But you are ruining all the fun. I had prepared a speech few years ago, but up until know I wasn’t able to tell it to anyone.” Kíli hoped that Bilbo will allow him to finish the speech but no such thing happened. “The scientists-“

“Kíli!”

“Fine. Once in a lifetime opportunity. You just killed my dreams,” Kíli pouted but Bilbo didn’t fall for the trick. “As far as I know, only you.”

“Only me what?” Bilbo was confused. Kíli spent so much time talking he completely lost focus on the important information.

“You are the one person Thorin kissed and did not sleep with afterwards.” Kíli spoke very slowly like he was talking to an idiot. And it did look like that, because Bilbo stared at him with his mouth open.

After a minute Bilbo got his thoughts back. “Nothing special,” he said plainly.

Kíli just shook his head and followed him back home. Bilbo Baggins had no idea what he started. It was like a game of Jumanji, once you start you have to finish the game.

:::

The day went by quickly for Bilbo. He did some school work, read a few pages of the book, nothing special happened until Kíli invited him to see a movie with them. For a change he was excited to go, but when he was getting ready he encountered a small problem. Everyone, meaning Kíli, Fíli and Ori were already waiting for him and when he didn’t show up Kíli decided to check on him.

There was a knock. “Bilbo,” Kíli called, “Are you ready?” No answer. Kíli knocked again and after a few minutes he heard Bilbo cry. “Is everything alright?” Kíli asked.

“No!” cried Bilbo. At his words Kíli barged into his room.

“What’s wrong?” he asked, panic could be sensed in his voice.

“I can’t go with you,” sighed Bilbo.

“Why not?”

Bilbo turned around and gestured to his pants. To be more precise, to the button of his pants. “It won’t close,” complained Bilbo and once again tried to close the button on his pants.

“Have you tried squeezing your stomach in?”

Bilbo sent him a look. “I’m not stupid. That was the first thing I tried and it didn’t help. I just ate too much for lunch,” he mumbled and lifted his shirt to look down at his swollen belly.

Kíli let out a laugh. “You and Thorin had a really big lunch, but it was a few months ago.” Bilbo narrowed his eyes. “Don’t look at me like that. You have a nice round belly like anyone who is pregnant has.”

“Not helping,” hissed Bilbo.

“I don’t understand why you complain so much. You gained a few pounds. I don’t see a problem with that. You are glowing.” Kíli took a step closer and reached for Bilbo’s belly, but Bilbo quickly put his shirt back down and took a step back. Kíli sighed. “How come you were able to wear pants today to school and now you can’t put them back on?”

“Not the same pants,” explained Bilbo. “The ones I wore today Nola took away from me because she was ‘doing the laundry’.” Bilbo once again tried to close the button. “I don’t understand why this is happening to me. Last week I was able to wear them. I admit, they were a little tight, but I was still able to wear them.”

“Just forget about these pants,” said Kíli and opened Bilbo’s closet. “Wow…” was the only thing he said after being quiet for a minute. “I really thought you had more clothes.” He pulled something out of the pile of clothes and threw it at Bilbo. “Here, try these.”

“I’m not going out in sweatpants!” Bilbo was deadly serious. “Not happening.”

“You don’t have much of a choice,” reasoned Kíli. “Don’t be such a child and put them on.”

“I’m not a child-“ Bilbo stopped because Kíli sent him a look. The truth was that he was acting like a child. He refused to wear pants, and he had to admit that it was rather childish of him. But he never liked going out in sweatpants, especially not to cinema where others from school might see him. This just wasn’t his thing. “Fine. You win.” Kíli grinned. “Get out!” ordered Bilbo when Kíli didn’t move. “I’m not changing while you are here.”

“Can I just…” Kíli once again reached toward Bilbo’s belly.

“No,” said Bilbo and slapped his hand.

“Why not?” whined Kíli.

“You said I was fat.” Kíli wanted to protest. “If you don’t leave I won’t change and then we will be late to the movie.”

A few minutes later Bilbo left his room to go downstairs, when he met Thorin who was all dressed to go out. “Nice pants,” teased Thorin.

“Thanks,” muttered Bilbo, not very happy about Thorin teasing him. He knew others will do the same. “Are you going with us?” Bilbo asked full of hope. He didn’t get the answer to his question because he saw Ori and Dwalin waiting downstairs.

“Thorin,” called Dwalin. “Ready to have some fun?”

“I’ve been waiting months for this,” said Thorin. Bilbo immediately knew what they were talking about and he wanted to throw up. “I think I deserve to have some fun tonight.” Dwalin smiled while Bilbo suddenly changed his mind. He didn’t want to go out anymore.

Before Dwalin and Thorin could leave, Ori pulled his boyfriend back to him. “Don’t do anything stupid and have fun,” he smiled before he placed a kiss on Dwalin’s lips. “I’ll see you tomorrow.”

“I’ll bring him back in one piece,” said Thorin before he dragged his best friend away from the group.

“We should go too,” said Fíli after Dwalin and Thorin left.

“I don’t want to go anymore,” said Bilbo and turned around to go back to his room.

“No you don’t.” Kíli reached for Bilbo’s hand and pulled him back. “You are going with us. No excuses.”

“I don’t want to go,” complained Bilbo.

“Thorin will have his fun and we will have our fun. Everyone wins. You can’t always back out just because Thorin does something.” Bilbo wanted to protest. “You are going with us,” repeated Kíli, more firmly.

Once they were in the car Bilbo finally gathered enough courage to talk to Ori. “Do they go out often together?”

“You mean Thorin and Dwalin?” Bilbo nodded. “Not so much. They used to though. There was a time when they went out together four times a week. I hated that because I never got the time to spend it with Dwalin.”

“So what do they do when they go out?”

“I don’t know exactly,” admitted Ori. “All I know that Dwalin is Thorin’s wingman. To tell the truth we don’t talk about this much because Dwalin and I are in a committed relationship so he is not allowed to even look at the others.”

Bilbo swallowed before he nodded. He didn’t like the idea of Thorin being with someone else. He knew that Thorin wasn’t hiss and that they weren’t dating or anything, but still the thought of Thorin kissing someone else made his stomach turn. He tried to forget about that and enjoy the film and some company, but it was really hard to focus on anything when Thorin was probably sucking the life out of someone.

:::

The next morning Bilbo didn’t see Thorin when he woke up, he didn’t see him the whole day. But he didn’t care. At least he pretended that he didn’t care. Deep down he was hoping that Thorin would catch something after whoring around so much. He spent the lunch break with Ori and Dwalin, unfortunately. He didn’t mind people being in love and showing affection to one another but watching Ori and Dwalin kiss during lunch was disgusting. So much love and kindness, and they were so sweet together that if he would stay with them for another minute he would need and insulin shot. He was smart enough to find some stupid excuse and leave them alone.

After school he decided to go home. He wanted to spend some time with Frodo, but also his mother had some repairs to do on his pants otherwise he wouldn’t be able to wear them anymore.

“Bilbo, come here,” called Belladonna from the kitchen. “Look, this is what I managed to do.” She showed him his pants that now had an elastic waist. “This is just a temporarily solution. You need new pants. There are very nice pants-“ _Just don’t say on maternity department_ “On maternity department.” _And there you go._ “I know you don’t want to buy pants there, but nothing else will fit you. That belly won’t stop growing anytime soon. The best thing to do now is to buy some new clothes for you.”

“I don’t want to feel like a big pregnant woman,” complained Bilbo.

“Well sweetheart, you are already pregnant and soon you will be big. You need new clothes because soon you won’t feel comfortable wearing what you wear now. The clothes there are made for those who are pregnant. It’s a small shop and I know the shopkeeper so she will give you a nice discount.”

“She sells only old stuff. I won’t find anything there,” said Bilbo after he put his pants back on. His mother was right, the elastic was much more comfortable to wear.

“Well the clothes aren’t new, but I’m sure you will find something. Trust me sweetheart, you need it.”

Bilbo knew his mother was right and even if he didn’t want to do it, he agreed to go buy something. Belladonna gave him some money and Bilbo went ‘shopping’. The good thing was that he didn’t have to go alone, because Frodo offered to go with him as a moral support. But Bilbo knew better, he knew that only reason Frodo decided to go with him was so that he could laugh. Still, Bilbo didn’t want to go alone so Frodo was more than welcome company.

When then entered the shop and Bilbo told the shopkeeper what they came to buy, the old lady sent him a judgmental look. She obviously didn’t approve of sex before marriage and Bilbo’s pregnancy meant exactly that. Still, the old woman kept quiet and didn’t say anything, but she didn’t really have to because the way she looked at Bilbo was showing enough what she thought.

“My big brother is buying bigger clothes because he is pregnant. I never thought I’d see that day,” commented Frodo as he was waiting for Bilbo to change. “I always thought you were the responsible one.”

Bilbo ignored Frodo’s comment. “What do you think?”

Frodo looked and him. “I don’t like it. You look horrible in this. The first pants you tried, that was something I could live with. Everything else looks horrible.” Bilbo sighed before he went back to change. “Can I use your phone?” Frodo asked.

“Why?”

“Because I’m bored and I know Kíli downloaded a lot of cool games to your phone.”

“Fine,” agreed Bilbo. “I’ll just try another pair and if it doesn’t look good we’ll go home. I had enough for one day.”

It wasn’t much of a surprise that everything else that Bilbo tried didn’t look good on him. So in the end he was happy to buy at least one pair of pants. He paid for them and then decided to return back home.

“Could I get my phone back, please?” asked Bilbo as they exited the shop and Frodo was still playing with his phone. Frodo didn’t want to, but he returned Bilbo his phone. “Thank you,” smiled Bilbo, but his smile quickly vanished. In front of the shop was parked Thorin’s car with Thorin leaning on it. “What are you doing here?” Bilbo hissed.

“I got your text,” explained Thorin and waved with his phone.

“What text?” Bilbo immediately knew what happened. “You!”he said and pointed at Frodo, “Why did you call him,” he hissed. “I will never again allow you to touch my phone.”

Frodo rolled his eyes. “Why are you making such a big deal out of this? I texted him, he came. Now stop pretending you are not happy he is here.”

“I’m not,” said Bilbo sternly.

“Like a damsel in distress. She calls for her prince and he comes. So romantic,” teased Frodo.

“Just stay quiet,” ordered Bilbo.

Frodo rolled his eyes before he turned to Thorin and smiled. “Hello. How are you?”

“I’m fine,” answered Thorin. “You?”

“Never better. Is there any chance you can drive me home?”

“Sure, no problem.”

“Just ignore him,” Frodo said and looked at his brother. “He is not in a very good mood.”

“Should I be worried?” laughed Thorin.

“No, just don’t listen to him.”

Thorin smiled and watched Frodo get in the car. “You are not coming with us?” he asked just to tease Bilbo. Bilbo narrowed his eyes before he stomped to the car. Thorin opened the door for him and Bilbo had to bite his tongue to not say anything. “Your majesty,” continued to tease Thorin and closed the door once Bilbo took a seat.

Bilbo kept quiet for the whole ride back to his parents’ house, while Thorin and his brother had a lovely conversation. Once they arrived there Frodo and Thorin continued to talk until Bilbo lost it and ordered Frodo to get out.

“So,” started Thorin while driving back to the mansion, “What did you buy?”

“Leave me alone,” snapped Bilbo. He felt so angry and Thorin just gave him the perfect opportunity to release his anger.

“I’m sorry. I didn’t want to offend you.”

“Can’t you just leave me alone?” Bilbo asked, irritated.

Thorin didn’t answer his question. He decided it was better if he stayed quiet. The last thing he wanted right now was to make Bilbo angry, especially after the progress they made. They drove in complete silence the rest of the way. Bilbo stared out of the window and Thorin pretended he didn’t look at him every two minutes.

Once the car stopped Bilbo got out as fast as he could. “You just couldn’t leave me alone?!” Bilbo snapped. “Nooo… You had to rub it in my face. Let’s show loser Bilbo how awesome I am and… and… You know what?!” yelled Bilbo. “I don’t care what you do! You can sleep with whoever you want, but leave me out of this!” Bilbo let out a sob. “I have feelings too, you know,” he cried and ran upstairs before Thorin could say anything.

**“And I need to have you near me, I need to feel you close to me…”**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, that was a little confusing, but Bilbo is very confused because he doesn’t know what he wants. He knows what he wants, but he tries to deny it. The next chapter will be more interesting to read, I promise. Anyway I’m going to sleep now. Tell me what you think and you’ll get the next chapter sooner than you think :)


	15. Chapter 15

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine.

**“Love is a burning thing and it makes a fiery ring…”**

Thorin just stared at Bilbo's fleeing form. He didn’t understand what just happened or what Bilbo said. This whole thing was confusing. He knew that it was Frodo who texted him because even though Bilbo and he were on relatively good terms now, Bilbo was still too proud and stubborn to ask him anything.

Still, Bilbo was crying when he ran upstairs. Normally Thorin would ignore him, but now he just couldn’t. He felt the urgent need to check on Bilbo and make sure he was okay. He took the bag that Bilbo left in the car and headed upstairs. He knew that if he would knock Bilbo most likely wouldn’t say anything and if he would, he would tell him to leave.

Thorin took a deep breath to prepare himself for what was waiting for him and entered the room. Bilbo was lying on the bed, quietly sobbing into a pillow.

“You forgot your bag,” said Thorin quietly, trying to break the ice. “You left it in the car.” He didn’t know why he said that. It was obvious Bilbo left the bag in the car. Thorin stood awkwardly in the center of the room, scratching the back of his head. He didn’t know what to say, but he wanted to make Bilbo feel better. “Is everything okay?” He asked.

“I’m fine,” Bilbo said into the pillow between sobs.

Thorin was lost, he really didn’t know what to say. He never tried to comfort anyone. “Listen,” he started after a minute, “I don’t know if this means anything to you, but last night when I went out with Dwalin I didn’t sleep with anyone.”

This sentence apparently made wonders. Bilbo stopped crying and looked Thorin in the eyes. “You didn’t?” He asked full of hope.

“No,” confirmed Thorin, but let out the reason why he didn’t.

Bilbo smiled and wiped the tears from his face. “I’m so happy.” He immediately regretted his words. “I mean, I’m not happy because you didn’t sleep with anyone because you can do whatever you like, I’m happy because it’s such a wonderful day.” Bilbo smiled wider and Thorin just shook his head. As far as he could tell Bilbo lost it completely. A few minutes ago he was yelling at him, now he was _happy_ because he didn’t sleep with anyone.

“Here is your bag,” said Thorin and gave the bag to Bilbo.

“Thank you.”

“No problem.” Thorin stood awkwardly in the center of the room for another minute. Bilbo kept his eyes on him and he kept them on Bilbo. “Well… I-I should go back. To my room.” He scratched his head again. “Yeah, to my room.”

He was about to leave when Bilbo spoke. “Did you kiss anyone?”

Thorin turned around. “Excuse me?”

Bilbo lost his courage, but he still repeated the question. “Did you kiss anyone when you were out with Dwalin?”

Thorin looked at him with disbelief. “What kind of question is that?”

“A normal one.”

“You can’t just go around and ask people if they kissed.”

“I’m not asking around,” corrected Bilbo, “I’m asking you.”

Thorin just shook his head. “Well it’s none of your business what I do.”

“But a minute ago it was perfectly fine for you to tell me you didn’t sleep with anyone!” Exclaimed Bilbo, irritated.

“You were upset and I thought it was about that,” explained Thorin. “You were yelling at me in the garage, remember? You were yelling at me because I was _‘rubbing in your face that I slept with someone’_.”

“I was yelling at you because you used my little brother to get to me!”

“Wow,” said Thorin. “You really lost it.” Bilbo was being unreasonable right now, but he looked so hot when he was angry. Too bad this anger couldn’t be turned into something more pleasurable. “He called me and I came to pick you up. I never used him.”

“Well I’m not a damsel in distress. I don’t need you to come and save me!”

“What?” Questioned Thorin, but before he could say anything else Bilbo ‘pushed’ him out of the room. He didn’t put up a fight, he merely walked out of the room with Bilbo guiding him where to go.

“I don’t need you!” Bilbo yelled before he shut the door in Thorin’s face.

“That went well,” commented Thorin and returned to his room.

:::

Bilbo spent the next day avoiding Thorin as much as he could. After thinking about it he realized that he and Thorin had a really strange conversation, and once again Thorin was angry at him. Or at least he was angry at Thorin. He had no right to use his little brother like that. The more he thought about it the more he asked himself how exactly Thorin used Frodo. Frodo called him, he knew that, and Thorin came to get them. He knew he was right, Thorin was using Frodo, but his mind still had problems figuring out how.

At the end he decided to forget about this whole thing. He might have overreacted a little and for no reason, but he had the right to. Thorin kissed him and that meant something. At least it meant something to Bilbo.

In the afternoon someone knocked on the door. “Hello,” smiled Valla. “Do you have an hour or two to go somewhere with me?” She asked. Bilbo had no idea what she had in mind, but he still agreed. After all, he didn’t have anything better to do.

“Sure, I’ll come.”

“Excellent. I’ll wait for you downstairs.”

Bilbo came down a few minutes later only to find Fíli and Kíli waiting for him. “You are going too?” He asked and the boy nodded. “Where are we going?”

“Shopping!”

Bilbo didn’t believe them at first but Valla joined them a minute later and confirmed what the boys said. They were indeed going shopping, but Bilbo had no idea where. It didn’t take long before the car stopped in front of one of the most expensive shops there were in town. He should have guessed that they would buy their clothes here, with all the money they had. He could never afford to buy clothes here. They were too expensive.

“Boys,” started Valla, “You know what you like.” This was meant for Fíli and Kíli. “Bilbo, please wait for me here,” she said before she disappeared.

“Just listen to her,” advised him Fíli. “She knows how to dress.”

“I’m not sure this is-“

Bilbo was interrupted by Kíli. “She has a closet full of clothes. That’s what happens when you have unlimited access to dad’s credit card.”

“I really don’t need-“ tried Bilbo.

“Just trust her. She will find something you will like,” said Kíli.

“Now if you excuse us, today we also have access to dad’s credit card.”

“And we are planning to enjoy this,” finished Kíli before he and Fíli disappeared.

Bilbo didn’t know what to do, he just stood there and waited for Valla to return.

“Okay, try this on,” she said after she came back with her arms full of different clothes. “I’m not sure about the colors, but we will find something that suits you.”

Bilbo wanted to protest.

“No excuses, young man,” she smiled. “I want to do this because I want you to feel comfortable in what you wear. Please allow me to do this.”

Bilbo didn’t have the heart to say no to her even though he knew he will probably have a heart attack later when he will see how much everything costs. He spent two hours trying everything on that Valla brought him. She really had a good taste and she knew what he needed. Most of the clothes were made to be very comfortable during pregnancy, but they didn’t look like that at all. Most of them did a very good job hiding the fact that the person wearing them was pregnant.

At the end Bilbo couldn’t believe how many clothes Valla decided to buy for him, but he was even more shocked by the quantity of clothes that Fíli and Kíli bought. It looked like they were changing the entire wardrobe.

“Thank you,” said Bilbo.

“You are welcome sweetheart,” smiled Valla. “I’ll meet you at the car.”

“Think your room and multiply it by four,” whispered Fíli in Bilbo’s ear when they were leaving the shop.

“I don’t understand.”

“The size of her closet,” clarified Fíli.

“Wow, that must be big.”

“It is,” confirmed Fíli. “Nice choice of clothes, by the way.”

“Thanks. Your mother picked everything.”

“They suit you.”

“I know,” smiled Bilbo. “I like them too.”

:::

A few days later Bilbo finally found some time to spend it with Bofur who was avoiding him with no reason. He had to admit that his new friends took a lot of his time, but he still tried to at least spend a few minutes a day with him.

“So, how are you,” asked Bilbo, trying to make small talk.

“I’m fine,” Bofur answered plainly.

“Just fine?” Bilbo didn’t get the answer from his friend. “Okay, what did I do?” Balfour remained quiet. “I obviously did something wrong that made you behave like this.”

“Everything is fine,” sighed Bofur.

“No! Everything is not _fine_.” Bilbo pulled Bofur to a stop. “Is it because I ate lunch with Ori the other day? You know, he is your friend too, you could have joined us.”

“It’s not about Ori.”

“Then what is this all about?” Insisted Bilbo.

“It’s about Thorin, alright!”

“I don’t even-“ Bofur didn’t let Bilbo finish.

“I know you kissed him,” stated Bofur.

“I didn’t-"

“Don’t lie to me. I know what happened. Kíli couldn’t be happier when he announced that you and Thorin are together. Congratulations,” said Bofur bitterly.

“But I’m not with Thorin and I didn’t kiss him.”

“Don’t lie to-“ Bofur didn’t finish his thought because Bilbo silenced him with a kiss. It was a simple kiss and Bilbo wanted to pull away immediately, but Bofur wrapped his arms around him and held him close.

“No,” protested Bilbo and pushed him away. Bofur just stared at him in complete shock. He didn’t know what just happened, but he knew it felt good. Bilbo put his hand over his mouth after a moment when he realized what he just did. What he did was wrong. He used his friend’s weakness just to prove his point. “I’m sorry,” whispered Bilbo before he ran away in tears.

“No, Bilbo, wait!” Called Bofur after him, but without any luck. Bilbo didn’t stop he ran away as fast as he could.

He shouldn’t have done what he did, it was wrong and now he felt really bad about it. Now he knew that Bofur definitely had a crush on him and he used him. He would never have wanted to be used like this. It was wrong and Bofur was his friend. A part of him was happy that he did it, at least now Bofur knew that there was absolutely nothing going on between him and Thorin. He could only hope that Bofur would put this whole thing behind them and never mention it again. Bilbo understood what it meant to like someone and never get the feelings returned, and he could never see Bofur more than his friend, or a best friend.

He ran back to the mansion crying. He didn’t want anything else but go to his room and never come out again. Or at least until this whole ordeal settles down. He didn’t even pay attention where he was running and as if this day couldn’t get any worse he crashed into no one else that Thorin himself.

Thorin also wasn’t paying attention where he was going because he was going through his wallet and the last thing he expected was for Bilbo to come running back home in tears.

“Watch it!” Yelled Thorin as they collided and the content of his wallet got scattered all over the floor.

Bilbo wiped his eyes in his sleeve. “I’m sorry,” he half cried. “I didn’t see you.”

“No kidding,” said Thorin plainly and started picking up the content of his wallet.

Bilbo got down and started to help him, after all this was all his fault. He picked up some money, two condoms (no surprise really, this was Thorin’s wallet), and two pictures which Bilbo didn’t recognize at first. But after he got a better look at them he couldn’t believe his eyes. Thorin had the _missing_ ultrasound pictures in his wallet and if Bilbo was sure of something was that Thorin always had his wallet with him, and that meant that he had the pictures with him all the time. “What…”

“None of your business,” snapped Thorin and snatched the pictures from Bilbo’s hand. Before Bilbo could even open his mouth Thorin stormed away.

Bilbo stood there for a minute. He couldn’t believe that Thorin kept the pictures. He was sure that he threw them away like he said. What did that mean? Does Thorin want the baby, or it was just a coincidence he kept them? Bilbo had so many questions only Thorin could answer but he was nowhere in sight. He decided to let the whole thing with pictures go for the moment, right now he had bigger problems.

:::

He ran back to his room and climbed under the covers. He was hoping to calm down and think about everything, but he had no such luck. Ten minutes later Kíli came knocking on his door.

“Bilbo! Bofur is here. He wants to talk with you.” No answer came. “Bilbo!” Called Kíli again.

“I don’t want to talk with him,” answered Bilbo.

“He knew you would say that and he told me to insist. He says he is urgent.” Once again no reply came from Bilbo so Kíli went to inform Bofur.

Sadly, it didn’t stay quiet for long. A few minutes later Bilbo could hear Bofur and Kíli arguing and he knew that it won’t take long before Bofur would be knocking on his door.

“Bofur,” tried Kíli, “He doesn’t want to speak with you.”

“But I want to speak with him,” insisted Bofur. “Bilbo!” He called and knocked on the door. “I want to talk with you! You can’t avoid me forever.” No answer. “Bilbo!”

“What’s going on here?” Asked Thorin who probably heard all the yelling.

“I want to talk to Bilbo,” clarified Bofur with a deadly glare.

“Then just talk to him. Don’t yell.”

“Easy for you to say,” muttered Bofur. “I’m sure he listens to your every word like he is your servant.”

“Excuse me?” Asked Thorin who wasn’t quite sure if he heard right. “He is my what?”

Before Bofur could answer Bilbo opened the door and silenced them both. “I don’t want to talk with you right now,” he declared and tried to close the door, but Bofur stopped him.

“I want to talk. Now that we are all here, why don’t we talk about what happened.”

“Who are ‘we’?” Asked Thorin because he didn’t understand a thing. Bilbo said nothing and pushed between them so that he could escape them. In that moment Thorin realized that Bilbo was hiding something and went after him. Bofur did the same.

Thorin caught him in the living room and stopped him. “What’s going on?” He asked.

“I’ll tell you what’s going on,” said Bofur. “He kissed me!”

Thorin’s eyes almost popped out. “You kissed him?!”

“No…” Bilbo lost his ability to speak.

“Don’t be like that Bilbo. It’s not nice to lie to your boyfriend.”

“I agree,” said Thorin before he caught the whole thing. “Boyfriend? Whose boyfriend?”

“We are not-“ tried Bilbo, but Thorin and Bofur were adamant to let him speak.

“No need to deny it,” interrupted Bofur. “I know everything.” He turned to Thorin. “Congratulations, you are the living proof that a bastard like you can get someone as nice as Bilbo. You will never deserve him.”

“Watch how you speak,” warned him Thorin, irritated.

“We are not-“ almost cried Bilbo.

“Why did you kiss him?” Asked Thorin.

“I didn’t… I don’t know,” Bilbo cried. “I’m sorry.” No one was sure to whom he said it.

“He is cheating on you,” said Bofur. “I don’t know how you can stand here so calmly when your boyfriend is kissing others.”

Bilbo had enough of everything. He was already feeling dizzy and he knew he wouldn’t last long. “We are not together!” He yelled before his vision became blurry. A few seconds later everything around him became dark.

“Bilbo!” They exclaimed, but they were too late.

:::

When Bilbo woke up he sensed someone standing next to him. There wasn’t much light, but his eyes still hurt when he opened them so he quickly tried to cover them with his arm when he felt a searing pain in his hand.

“It’s just an IV,” a calm, female voice said. “Try to stay calm.” Bilbo only nodded. He kept his eyes shut so he had no idea to whom he was talking. “You are in a hospital,” the voice explained. “You fainted and you hit your head. You have a nice bump on your head.” Bilbo could imagine her smile. “Why don’t you open your eyes slowly?” Bilbo did as he was told. “Hello,” the nurse smiled, “It’s nice to have you back.”

“Where am I?” Bilbo asked with a raspy voice.

“You are in a hospital, sweetheart. You hit your head when you fainted. Also your blood pressure is very high. We are just making sure you are both fine.”

At her words Bilbo’s hand immediately went to his stomach. “Don’t worry, you are not bleeding or anything, but we did call your doctor. She will arrive shortly and she will be able to tell you if everything is alright.”

Bilbo nodded and leaned back into the pillows and watched the nurse change his IV.

“So which one is it?” She asked and smiled down to him.

“What?”

“Which one of those two hot guys out there is your boyfriend?” The nurse asked. “If they weren’t so young I would be jealous. Don’t tell me you are dating both. They had a huge fight, not even half an hour ago so we asked them to leave, but they won’t go. They are both determined to stay with you. So, which one is it?”

“Neither,” mumbled Bilbo.

The nurse’s smile vanished. “So you are with the father of your baby?” Bilbo shook his head. “Oh.”

“It’s complicated.” That was the only way Bilbo could explain it.

Before the nurse could ask another question Arwen walked in. “Hello,” she smiled. “You are awake. Good.”

“If you’ll excuse me,” said the nurse and left.

Arwen pulled a chair next to Bilbo’s bed. Her face was serious and Bilbo began to worry something was wrong. “I don’t like meetings like this,” she started. “I got a call that my teenage patient was brought to the hospital unconscious, with a big bump on his head and very high blood pressure. Will you tell me what happened?”

“I don’t know.” Arwen raised an eyebrow at him. “We had a disagreement. There was maybe some yelling involved,” said Bilbo carefully.

“Just some, huh?” Arwen took a deep breath. “This is not a high-risk pregnancy, but that doesn’t mean you don’t have to be careful. Every male pregnancy is dangerous, especially those of teenagers. We talked about this and I warned you about your blood pressure and stress. The blood results show that you at least eat properly. If you don’t start avoiding stress I will have to advise Mr. Durin to find you another place to stay. This is not only putting your baby’s life at stake, but yours too.”

Bilbo only nodded. He knew that he wasn’t doing the best job avoiding stress, but it was so hard with everything that was happening around him. And now Thorin wasn’t his only problem. Bofur decided to make his life even harder.

Arwen stood up and put the chair away. “When they brought you in they checked you, now let’s see how the baby is doing, shall we?” She helped Bilbo lift his shirt and put some gel on his stomach. “So,” she started while she was moving the probe on his belly, “The taller, older one is Thorin?” Bilbo only nodded. He kept his eyes on the screen waiting to see his baby. “And the other one? Who is he?”

“He is my friend,” simply answered Bilbo.

“Only your friend?” The sound of the baby’s heartbeat filled the room and Arwen abandoned small talk for a moment. “Everything looks fine. See, here’s the head, a leg, an arm. It’s interesting how your baby seems to be unaffected by everything that is happening to you. It looks fine, no harm done. This time,” she quickly added.

“Could I get a picture?”

Arwen smiled. “Are you collecting them or something?”

“Sort of.”

“I’ll bring one to you later,” Arwen promised. “Did you already feel it move?”

“No,” carefully answered Bilbo, unsure if this was good or bad.

“Don’t worry, you should feel it soon. This is your nineteenth week so it shouldn’t be much longer before you’ll be able to feel it move.” Arwen helped him clean his stomach. “I want to keep you here overnight, just to make sure that everything is alright. Mrs. Durin was already informed about what happened. She was very worried. Now I can call her back and assure her that everything is alright, with both of you. I also need to call your parents and inform them you’ll be staying here.”

“Can you tell them that I will call them as soon as I get my phone,” Bilbo asked and Arwen nodded.

“You know,” she said before she left, “They both seem like decent guys and they both seem to care about you. If you are deciding between them do it quickly because if you won’t do it soon you will have no one at the end. Only a true love is prepared to wait forever.”

**“…Bound by wild desire I fell into a ring of fire.”**

**-TBC-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was fast… I know… I got really bored on my train to school. Plus it had twenty-five minute delay so I decided to do something useful.  
> Thank you all for your feedback. I read all your comments and you seem to be enjoying the story. Thank you all for the questions on Tumblr (some of them are really interesting) and your emails. It’s always interesting to know what you think.  
> Just a quick explanation. The Internet here is making me crazy. I need an Internet connection to run spell check. Without Internet the program refuses to work, that’s why I usually wait to return home, but I promised you a new chapter soon so I did my best.  
> I’ll try to write the new chapter for TCoS because it deserves an update.  
> See you soon :)


	16. Chapter 16

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine.

**_“And then I’ll be with you and I won’t scare myself…”_ **

Bilbo didn't even remember when he fell asleep, but he knew he was alone in the room when he did. He wasn’t alone anymore when he woke up a few hours later. Thorin was sleeping in a chair on one side of his bed and Bofur on the other. Neither of them looked particularly comfortable but Bilbo didn’t really care. It was their fault he ended in a hospital and it was their choice to stay here. He didn’t ask them to stay.

“You are awake,” mumbled Thorin who apparently just woke up. Bilbo had no idea what time it was and it looked like Thorin didn’t know either. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine,” simply answered Bilbo.

All this talk woke Bofur up, who immediately reached for Bilbo’s hand. “How are you feeling?”

Bilbo pulled his hand away as if Bofur’s touch burned him. Thorin didn’t miss Bilbo’s reaction, but he didn’t dare to do the same. He was worried Bilbo might pull away from him too.

“I’m fine,” answered Bilbo. He looked at Thorin and then back to Bofur. “Why are you here? Why are you both here? Don’t you have anything better to do?”

“I offered to stay here with you,” answered Thorin after a minute of silence. “Mum was worried about you, so I told her I will stay here.”

Bilbo turned to Bofur. “I’m here because I wanted to make sure you are okay. I was so worried-“

“Well, I’m fine,” snapped Bilbo, irritated. “Tomorrow is school so I don’t know what you two are doing here. You should be both at home. I don’t need you here.”

“Well, I’m staying,” answered Thorin, sharply.

Bofur didn’t want for Thorin to win. “I’m staying, too.”

This apparently made Bilbo even angrier. “Enjoy sleeping in the chair,” spat Bilbo, lay down and pulled the covers up. He was now facing Bofur who was intensely watching him trying to sleep. After a few minutes Bilbo muttered something under his breath and turned on the other side, only to face Thorin, who was smiling at him. Bilbo groaned in frustration and pulled the covers over his head.

He could hear Thorin chuckle and he could imagine him smiling. “Goodnight, Bilbo,” said Thorin, but received no answer.

:::

When Bilbo woke up the next morning, Thorin and Bofur looked even worse than they did the previous night. It was more than obvious that they were fighting, but Bilbo didn’t really care. This was their problem not his. His problem was much worse though. He was really hungry and he urgently needed to use the toilet, the baby was once again pressing on his bladder.

Thorin was the first one to notice his discomfort. “Is everything alright?”

“I’m fine,” snapped Bilbo. “Leave me alone.” He really wasn’t in the mood to deal with both of them so early in the morning.

“Do you need some help?” asked Thorin when he saw Bilbo getting out of the bed.

“No, Thorin. I don’t need your help. I think I can use the toilet alone. Or do you think it would be better if you are there with me?”

Thorin raised his hands in surrender and sat back on the chair. Bilbo hurried to the bathroom, but returned a few minutes later only to find a tray in his room. “Is this for me?” asked Bilbo excitedly.

“They brought it in not a minute ago,” explained Bofur.

Bilbo smiled, climbed back on the bed and pulled the tray to him. _Breakfast, finally._ He didn’t care if Thorin and Bofur were watching him eat, he was too hungry to think about that.

“I’m going to get some coffee,” said Thorin. “Do you need anything?”

“Hot chocolate,” said Bilbo with his mouth full. “With extra sugar,” he added after he swallowed.

Thorin nodded. “Do you need anything?” he asked Bofur who shook his head. “I’ll be right back.”

Bofur watched Bilbo eat his breakfast, but he didn’t say anything. They both waited for Thorin to return. He came in a few minutes later and gave Bilbo the cup of hot chocolate he ordered.

“Extra sugar?” Bilbo asked and Thorin sent him a look. “What? I had to make sure you brought what I asked you.” Thorin rolled his eyes and sat down. The moment he did that a phone started to ring. “Is that my phone?” asked Bilbo, annoyed that Thorin had his phone.

“Here,” said Thorin, “I’ll give you some time alone.” Bofur followed him out of the room.

“Mum?” asked Bilbo when he answered his phone.

_“Bilbo? Are you alright?”_

“Yes, I’m fine,” answered Bilbo.

_“You are in a hospital. What happened? We were so worried yesterday when the doctor called us. She said you will call, but you didn’t.”_

“I’m fine, mum. I really am.”

_“What happened?”_

“I kind of fainted.” Bilbo could hear his mother gasp on the other side. “But I’m fine now. The doctor wanted me to stay here just to make sure everything is alright.”

_“And the baby? Is the baby alright?”_

“Yes mum. The doctor checked me yesterday and she said that we are both okay.”

Bilbo heard his mother let out a sigh _. “We were so worried when you didn’t call last night. We were all ready to leave, because we wanted to see you, when that boy… What’s his name? Thorin? Yes, he called and told us you are okay, but that you fell asleep.”_

“Thorin called you?”

 _“Yes. He said he is staying with you and he said that if anything changes he will call us. He was very nice to us.”_ His mother apparently forgot that Thorin was the one who got him pregnant. _“When are you coming home? I want to see you. We all do.”_

“I don’t know. I’ll come home as soon as I’m allowed to.”

_“Okay. You scared me, but I’m relieved you are fine. I love you, sweetheart.”_

“Love you too, mum. I’ll see you soon, I promise.”

 _“Bye,”_ said Belladonna before she hung up.

Bilbo didn’t even care enough to invite Bofur and Thorin back in, he was more than happy about being alone for a couple of minutes. He just finished his hot chocolate when the doctor came in to check him. Everything was alright. All he needed was for Arwen to check the baby and then he would be free to go. But sadly, Arwen was busy so Bilbo had to stay in the hospital for lunch and then a few more hours in the afternoon. Thorin and Bofur eventually did come back, but Bilbo decided to ignore them. They obviously had another argument and every time one opened his mouth the other spat something back. Bilbo asked them to leave several times, but they refused. At the end, every time they started arguing he just raised the volume on TV so that they would stop.

A few hours after lunch Arwen finally came. “Hi,” she smiled. “I’m sorry you had to wait so long.”

“It’s okay,” said Bilbo and turned off the TV.

“All the results show that you are perfectly healthy, so let’s just check this really quickly so you can go home.”

“I’ll wait outside,” said Bofur. Thorin wanted to follow him, but stopped when Bilbo pulled up his shirt and the doctor pulled the ultrasound machine closer.

Thorin cleared his throat. “Can I stay?”

Both Bilbo and Arwen looked at him, but the doctor didn’t say anything. She allowed Bilbo to decide. After a minute of staring, Bilbo nodded, and Thorin immediately sat on the chair next to the bed.

“This is going to be little cold,” warned Arwen before she put some gel on Bilbo’s stomach.

Thorin watched intensely as the doctor moved the probe on Bilbo’s stomach and then turned the screen around for both of them to see. With a press on a few buttons baby’s heartbeat filled the room.

“What’s that?” asked Thorin.

“It’s the heartbeat,” explained Arwen.

“It’s fast,” observed Thorin. “It’s supposed to be so fast? Is everything alright?”

“Don’t worry. Everything is perfectly normal.” She smiled at Thorin who had his eyes fixed on the screen. “See, here is the head. And this is an arm. This here is the leg.”

“But it has two of everything?” asked Thorin.

“Yes,” reassured him Arwen. “But in this position we can’t see it.”

Bilbo finally looked at Thorin, who didn’t tear his eyes from the screen, not even for a second. It was amazing to see how Thorin looked like he cared about the baby. Bilbo quickly diminished his thought. Thorin didn’t care. He didn’t care about him or the baby.

“It’s perfect,” said Thorin in complete awe. “A little miracle,” he added and squeezed Bilbo’s hand.

“You are both perfectly fine, so you are allowed to go home,” announced Arwen and helped Bilbo clean his stomach.

“I’ll wait for you outside,” said Thorin and left without saying another word.

Bilbo finished cleaning his stomach and got out of the bed. “I’m so happy I can finally go home.”

“He cares about you,” commented Arwen to change the topic. “He really does. He cares about you and the baby.”

“I doubt it,” scoffed Bilbo.

Arwen just shrugged. “Here, I promised you this yesterday.” She handed Bilbo the picture he requested.

“Thank you.”

“You are welcome. Why don’t you get dressed and I’ll get you the discharge papers.” Bilbo nodded. “I’ll see you in two weeks. Two weeks, not earlier, please.”

“I promise,” said Bilbo before Arwen left.

Bilbo was once again left alone. He looked at the picture in his hand. His baby. His and Thorin’s baby. It was so much easier a few weeks ago when he was living with his parents. He knew that keeping the baby would be hard, but he was excited about it. He was looking forward to the moment when he would finally be able to hold his child. And now? What he had now? Nothing, absolutely nothing. This baby wasn’t his to hold and to love. This baby would be staying with Thorin’s family. All he had was the picture in his hand, nothing more.

He looked around the room, only to spot Thorin’s jacket on the chair. The picture was all he had and he was hoping that Arwen was right, when he went through the pockets of Thorin’s jacket. This was his only hope for happiness.

:::

Bilbo was out of the hospital in no time. He got dressed as quickly as possible and left. Bofur said goodbye to him and headed home while Thorin offered to drive him back. Bilbo didn’t feel up to going back to the mansion, not yet. He wanted to go home and spend some time with his family. Thorin didn’t oppose him and drove him home.

“If you need anything, call me,” Thorin said.

“Thanks,” said Bilbo plainly and closed the car door before he hurried inside.

He missed his small home. He even missed his small bedroom. No matter what, this was still better than Durin’s mansion. “Mum? Dad?” Bilbo called when he entered.

“Bilbo?” called Belladonna. Before he could say anything else him mother pulled him into a tight embrace. “Oh, you are home. You are home,” she began sobbing. “I’m so happy that you are home.” She cupped his cheeks and forced him to look in her eyes. “Are you alright?” she asked. “Are you really alright?”

“Yes mum. I’m fine.” Said Bilbo before embracing his mother again. He felt so loved when his mother hugged him. “What’s that smell? It smells delicious.”

“Hungry?” Belladonna smiled. “Come, I’m making your favorite dinner.”

“Mum, you are the best,” said Bilbo before he allowed his mother to drag him in the kitchen.

It didn’t take long before Frodo came running downstairs. He missed his brother too. He saw him more times than his parents did but still, it wasn’t the same. He used to spend hours with him now he was lucky if he could say hello to him.

“You are staying here tonight, aren’t you?”

“Yes, I am,” confirmed Bilbo. “I’m not going back. Not tonight.”

Bungo returned from work an hour later only to hear once again laughter in his kitchen. “What is the meaning of this?” he asked sharply. Everyone in the kitchen froze and looked at him. Bungo wasn’t able to hold it back for much longer and a smiled crept on his face. “Hello son.”

“Hi, dad,” said Bilbo and allowed his father to pull him into a tight embrace.

“Did you all believe I was angry,” Bungo asked as he sat down next to his son.

“Well you did trick us rather nicely,” admitted Bilbo.

“Bilbo is staying here tonight,” announced Frodo.

Bungo smiled. “Good. This is your home and you are always welcome here. There will always be a bed for you under this roof.”

“Thanks dad.”

“So, what’s for dinner? I’m starving.”

“Yeah mum,” Frodo said. “We are starving here. Bilbo urgently needs food.” Everyone laughed at Frodo’s words and Belladonna rolled her eyes before she put the food on the table and her family finally shared a meal together after so much time.

Not so far away, another family was having a dinner together but the atmosphere was nowhere as nice as in Baggins household. You could say that then tension in the room was so thick you could cut it with a knife. Everyone was eating in silence and no one dared to look up. Needless to say that Thráin was back home and that he was informed of what happened with Bilbo.

“Something like this can’t happen again,” said Thráin and finally broke the uncomfortable silence. “Did I make myself clear, Thorin?!”

“Yes father, you made yourself very clear,” Thorin answered back.

“Don’t try to be smart here boy. This is all your fault. If you would use your head for something else than partying and whoring around this wouldn’t have happened. We wouldn’t be in this mess we are now in.”

“My fault?!” questioned Thorin, irritated. “I stayed with him in the hospital and made sure he is alright. How is this my fault?” Thorin raised his voice.

“You got him pregnant in the first place-“

“And you are the monster who decided to take his baby away from him!” yelled Thorin. “How do you think he feels?!”

“It’s his fault! Blabbing everything to that doctor. If that stupid boy knew how to keep his mouth shut he would be able to keep the child. After all, you are too stupid to ever figure out the child is yours.”

“Enough!” Interrupted Valla. “This is a family dinner. Why is it so hard to have a normal meal together when you two are in the house?” She stood up and left the table. Fíli and Kíli did the same.

“He apparently did the right thing,” said Thorin when he was alone with his father. “You were informed and now you are pulling all the strings. That must make you very happy, father.”

Thráin shook his head. How naïve his son was. “ _They_ know. That traitorous doctor didn’t call me. He called _them_! _They_ know. It was pure luck that one of ours was heard this so we were able to intervene before something would have happened. I don’t care if you have bastard children. That is your problem. But I won’t allow _them_ to raise one of my own so that then my own grandchild can kill me while I’m asleep. You know how they work, no screams, just lots of blood.”

“They would go that far,” reasoned Thorin.

“Use your head for once! Remember that massacre I told you about two weeks ago.” Thorin nodded. “Well that was just a warning. No one knows when they are going to strike next.”

“Still, they wouldn’t use Bilbo.”

“No,” confirmed Thráin. “They would wait for him to give birth and then kill him. It would be much easier for them that way. They don’t need him they just need the child to hang it over my head. This is a family business. How do you think others would look at me when _they_ would threaten me to kill my grandchild? I needed to make sure this doesn’t happen.”

“And what about Bilbo and his family?” asked Thorin though he had a pretty good idea what his father’s answer will be.

“They are just pawns in this game of chess. You have to sacrifice them to win,” said Thráin before he left.

Thorin sighed and leaned back into the chair. “Yes,” he said quietly, “But if you get them safely on the other side you always get the best reward possible.” He rubbed his tired eyes. “And then it’s so much easier to win.” He sighed again. “It’s so much easier to win if you have them by your side.”

He headed back to his room. He needed so time to relax and he needed a shower. He stripped his clothes, stepped under a warm shower and closed his eyes. It felt so good to forget about everything. Sadly his thoughts were interrupted by his phone ringing back in his bedroom. He didn’t really care about anything. He stepped out of the shower and went to his phone.

 _Dwalin._ “Yes?”

_“Thorin, do you still have the number of that guy we met?”_

“I thought this was urgent,” Thorin commented dryly.

_“It is. Do you have it?”_

“Yes, in my wallet. What did you do?” Thorin knew Dwalin did something wrong and now Ori was angry.

_“Nothing.”_

“So why are you then taking him to that restaurant? You know how expensive that place is.”

Thorin could hear Dwalin sigh. _“I told him I don’t want to tell Dori we are dating.”_

“When will you learn?” laughed Thorin.

_“Stop laughing. Do you have the number or not.”_

“Give me a second,” said Thorin and searched his pockets for his wallet. He found it and searched through it to find the number. But there was something else that caught his eyes and Thorin almost dropped his phone. “I’ll call you back,” he said and threw his phone on the bed before Dwalin could say something else.

Thorin pulled the ultrasound pictures out of his wallet. But now there weren’t two anymore, he had three. He looked the picture which he had never seen before. _Bilbo._ Thorin smiled and turned the picture around. _‘Little miracle’_ was written on its back. Bilbo must have put this in his wallet when he wasn’t paying attention. Thorin felt warmth spreading through his body and he never felt so happy in his life.

:::

The next day it was Thorin who was searching for Bilbo in the school because he wanted to talk to him. He needed to see him and make sure he is okay and happy. It didn’t take long to find him. Bilbo was having lunch with Ori. He was laughing at whatever Ori told him and Thorin couldn’t help but smile. Bilbo looked so happy that he felt bad to interrupt them. It was strange that his brothers were nowhere in sight.

When Ori noticed Thorin approaching them he immediately stopped talking. Bilbo looked at him and then followed his eyes only to notice Thorin coming closer. He immediately started putting his things together.

“Can I talk to you?” asked Thorin.

“I’m sorry, I have class.” Bilbo knew this was a bad excuse because he still had fifteen minutes of lunch break, but he didn’t want to talk to him. “I’ll talk to you later,” he said to Ori before he disappeared.

Ori wanted to leave too, but Thorin stopped him. “What were you talking about?”

“Nothing.”

“Come on, tell me,” tried Thorin.

“It’s really nothing. I have to go.”

Thorin wasn’t happy that no one wanted to tell him anything, but he wasn’t going to give up so easily. After school he waited for Bilbo to return. He was determined to talk to him.

The moment he heard him walk through the door he was on his feet and followed him to his room. “Welcome back.”

“Thanks,” said Bilbo, and hurried to his room. He hoped to get rid of Thorin as soon as possible, but Thorin still followed him.

“So, can we talk now?” Thorin asked as he leaned on the doorframe.

“I don’t have time,” answered Bilbo and started going through his closet.

Thorin frowned. It was obvious that Bilbo was avoiding him. “If you are trying hard to get let me tell you that it’s not working.”

“What? No. I have some things to do.”

“I’m all ears.”

Bilbo looked at Thorin, unsure if he was serious. Apparently Thorin really wanted to know. “I have birthing class today,” Bilbo informed him.

“Oh.”

“Yeah.” Bilbo looked at Thorin who refused to move. “Look, I have to get ready, so…”

“Do you need me to drive you or to go-“

“No need,” interrupted Bilbo. “Kíli is going with me so I have a ride.” If Bilbo didn’t know better he would swear that Thorin looked disappointed he couldn’t go with him. “I really don’t need you.”

Thorin nodded and left without saying a word. Bilbo just shook his head and continued to get ready. So what if he hurt Thorin’s feelings. He hurt him many times before and Thorin had no reason to be hurt right now. He didn’t want the baby. In fact he didn’t want to have anything with the baby so why should he go with him.

**-TBC-**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Now we know a little more, but still not everything. Why do they have to be so mysterious? It’s driving me crazy.
> 
> So I hope that you all noticed that Thorin was a little disappointed and hurt at the end. And you all know Thorin so this is not going to end well. It could also happen that they will be able to work out their issues. You’ll just have to wait and see. But I promise you that you will hate and love the next chapter.


	17. Chapter 17

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine.

**"Oh you bring me joy, yeah you bring me sadness..."**

Bilbo returned with Kíli a couple of hours later. They obviously had a lot of fun because Bilbo was smiling and happy again and Thorin didn’t miss that when they walked through the door.

“So, how was it,” asked Fíli as they all sat down in the living room. Thorin was sitting in his armchair pretending that he was playing with his phone.

“Disgusting.” This is how Kíli described it.

“Why?”

“They showed us the video where a woman gave birth,” explained Bilbo and sat down on the couch next to Kíli. “It wasn’t that disgusting.”

“Are you crazy?!” asked Kíli. “That poor woman looked like she was about to die. It looked so painful.”

“She chose a natural birth,” reminded him Bilbo.

“Yes, and you are crazy enough that you are planning to do the same.”

“You want to have a natural birth?” asked Fíli.

“Well, yeah. You only get one first time giving birth. I want to remember it. It’s going to be a part of me for the rest of my life. I don’t want to be all drugged and I don’t want to drug my baby.”

“You are either extremely brave or extremely stupid,” commented Kíli.

“Well it’s my choice how I want to do it. I want to get at least something out of this. You know, the satisfaction that you brought another being into this world.”

“I completely agree with Bilbo,” said Fíli. “It’s a one-in-a-life time thing and if he wants to be in pain then he can be in pain.” Everyone, except Thorin, laughed at Fíli’s words. “So what else did you do?”

“Not much. They told us about the baby and how it’s developing, but everything in general. Then they showed us that disgusting video and then we got to play with baby dolls,” explained Kíli.

“What did you do?” asked confused Fíli.

“They showed us how to hold the baby, how to support its head and they showed us how to change a nappy,” explained Bilbo.

“In which Bilbo did the best job,” added Kíli. “He is a natural. Others, including myself, had some trouble. I mean, I struggled putting a nappy on a doll which lays still. Can you imagine how much trouble I would have if this was a real baby, moving around?”

“You just need some practice. You’ll learn.”

“It’s not fair. She showed it to you once and you were able to do it perfectly. You will be a perfect daddy.”

Bilbo swallowed hard at Kíli’s words. “I hope that one day I will. I hope that one day I will have a child of my own and I plan to love it more than life itself.” A tear escaped Bilbo’s eyes and Kíli pulled him closer.

“It’s okay. Everything is going to be okay. You’ll see,” he soothed.

“Thanks,” said Bilbo and forced a smile on his face.

“Next time I’m going with you,” said Fíli. “I want to learn, too. I promise you that we will take good care of your baby.”

Thorin snorted at that.

“Do have something to say?” asked Fíli who didn’t like Thorin’s behavior.

Thorin put the phone down and looked at the group. Kíli still had an arm around Bilbo who was leaning on him. “Your baby?” laughed Thorin in that tone that meant that nothing good will come out of his mouth. “Your baby? Whose baby?” He looked at Bilbo. “This is not your baby. You sold it, remember? You want to feel the pain. Of course you do, it’s the only punishment you can think for yourself for selling your own child. But let me tell you this: the guilt won’t go away. No, you will feel it forever. And the scars on your body will remind you forever what you could have.”

“Thorin!” warned him Fíli.

“No, let him finish,” said Bilbo with tears in his eyes.

Thorin stood up and looked at him before he continued. “You go to these classes and you learn about changing diapers and holding a baby. What for? You will never be allowed to even hold your child. Never. You can forget about breastfeeding or changing diapers. The moment that child leaves your body you will never see it again. If you are lucky enough the nurse will show it to you once you give birth so you’ll at least know how it looks like. But this will make it even worse. You are nothing more than a living incubator, Bilbo Baggins.”

Bilbo looked at Thorin after he finished his speech. Some words stayed in his head and will probably stay there for the rest of his life. Thorin was right. He will never be allowed to hold his child or to do anything with it that they teach in birthing classes. Still, Thorin had no right to tell him that in the way he did. It was damn right cruel.

Bilbo stood up from the couch with tears in his eyes and stepped in front of Thorin. Fíli and Kíli got worried for a second what might happen. “Thank you for reminding me how horrible my life has become since I slept with you,” said Bilbo as calmly as he could and slapped Thorin hard across his face.

Bilbo’s hand began to sting and Thorin’s cheek became red where Bilbo’s hand hit him. He still didn’t turn his face to meet Bilbo’s eyes. “I hope that this gave you at least the idea of pain I feel every day since I slept with you!” Thorin finally gathered enough courage to look Bilbo in the eyes. “I agreed to sleep with you so I take all the responsibility for the unexpected consequences that followed. I forgave you for what you did to me that night, for the humiliation I felt when I ran back home. I hope that one day you’ll be mature enough so you will be able to forgive yourself. When that happens call me, maybe we can be friends.” This was the last thing Bilbo said before he ran upstairs with tears in his eyes.

Thorin stood frozen on the spot.

“Congratulations,” said Fíli and stood up. “Congratulations Thorin. You just made the only person who could love you, hate you forever. Congratulations,” repeated Fíli dryly, “I hope you are happy alone, because that’s how it’s going to be. When all your friends will leave you, you will have no one except dad. I hope that you two will be happy together, ruining other people’s life.”

Kíli just shook his head as he passed Thorin and followed Fíli upstairs.

Thorin collapsed back into his armchair and ran his hand over his face. _What’s wrong with me? I should never have said those things to him. Why did I do it? I’m so stupid!_ Thorin groaned loudly and threw his head back. _I should have never said anything. Fíli is right. Now Bilbo will have me forever. I lost him. I lost both of them._ Thorin reached for his phone and dialed a familiar number.

_“Yes?”_

“Dwalin, are you busy? I did something stupid and I need your help.”

:::

When Thorin returned back from the talk with Dwalin, he immediately went to Bilbo’s room. He knocked a few times, but no answer came. Bilbo was smart enough to lock himself into his room so that no one could disturb him. Thorin pleaded to be let in, but the doors stayed closed.

In the morning Thorin waited Bilbo for nothing. The younger boy apparently left the house before Thorin woke up. In school, Bilbo did an even better job at avoiding him. No one knew where Bilbo was or at least no one wanted to tell him. He searched the entire school but he didn’t find him.

The only think that kept him from losing his mind was the fact that at some point Bilbo would have to return to the house and Thorin decided to patiently wait for his return.

“I want to apologize,” was the first thing Thorin said when Bilbo walked in.

“No need,” said Bilbo plainly. He didn’t want to be around Thorin, especially after what happened the previous night.

“I shouldn’t have said these things to you.”

Bilbo stopped once he was back in his room. “No, you were right. Everything you told me was the truth, I was just too blind to see it. Or you can say I don’t want to see the things that way. But your words last night had a point. I wanted to do so many things for this baby. Go to parenting classes, buy clothes and toys. What for? This is not my future.”

Bilbo took a deep breath to hold back his tears. “I was thinking last night, you know. I was thinking about my future, about my plans for the future. I wanted to go to college, get a very good job, move out of my parents’ house. I wanted to have good grades in school so that maybe I could get a scholarship. All this is not happening so last night I decided to make a plan for my future. The first thing to do is to give birth to this baby and give it to you, and hopefully never see you again. The second thing is finish high school and the last is to find a job. Even with the grades I have no one will give me the scholarship, not when it will be clearly written in my file that I was pregnant. It’s so much easier for you. You won’t feel any consequences even though you had an equal part in making this baby as I did. I just can’t wait for everyone in school to find out I’m pregnant. This will only make my life even better than it already is,” said Bilbo with sarcasm before he slammed the door in Thorin’s face.

Thorin stood there for a minute and replayed Bilbo’s words in his head. Bilbo was telling the truth. Deciding to keep the baby meant sacrificing everything, even his future. What pained Thorin the most was the fact that Bilbo appeared to lose all the hope. He always looked like a fighter, he fought for everything he got in his life. But now… Now he looked lifeless. Bilbo Baggins looked like he gave up on this world.

:::

Thorin wasn’t really surprised that Bilbo avoided him as much as he could. If he wasn’t forced to eat with him he found another place where he could eat his meal. Fíli and Kíli usually followed. In his own house, Thorin felt more alone than ever.

Dwalin was still trying to get Ori to forgive him. It’s not that Ori held a grudge for long but he could keep Dwalin away from his bed for much longer and now Dwalin tried to do everything so that Ori would finally grant him access.

Other than Dwalin, Thorin didn’t really have many friends. He knew a lot of people and he had a lot of connections, but he didn’t want to hang out with them. After a few days Thorin gave up on his attempts to find company and he decided to stay at home on Friday night.

But not all were as miserable and bored as he was.

Bilbo apparently had plans for the evening because after a few days, Thorin finally saw him smiling again as he came down to the living room.

“What do you think?” Bilbo asked Fíli and Kíli. Thorin didn’t miss that he purposely ignored him or that he was wearing new clothes. He was ready to go out. Like on a date. It him hard when he realized that Bilbo was going out with someone.

“Looks great,” commented Kíli.

Bilbo turned to the side. “It can’t be seen, right?” He was gesturing to his belly which was not visible under the shirt he was currently wearing.

“No one will now.”

Bilbo let a breath. “I just don’t want people staring at us.”

“Where are you going?” Thorin tried to sound as casual and uninterested as possible.

“I’m going out with Bofur.”

“What?!” Thorin was suddenly much more attentive than he was before. “You are going out with Bofur?” he questioned.

“Wasn’t I clear enough?”

“Why are you going out with him?”

Bilbo took a breath to calm down. He really didn’t like Thorin’s interrogation. He feared that he might do something stupid if he would tell him too much. “He asked me out and I said yes.”

“Why did you say yes?” questioned Thorin.

It was Fíli who spoke so that Bilbo didn’t have to answer the question. “It’s late, you better go.”

“Right. I’ll see you later.” He smiled at Kíli before he disappeared.

“I want a detailed description later!” Kíli called after him.

Bilbo smiled and shook his head before he left the house. Bofur was already waiting for him. He looked very happy that Bilbo showed up. Maybe a part of him was a little worried that he won’t come.

“Good evening,” he greeted and gave Bilbo a kiss on the cheek.

“Hi,” smiled Bilbo and accepted Bofur’s hand. It was a little awkward but he needed to accept the fact that his best friend apparently had a huge crush on him. After what happened the last time they were together Bilbo felt like he needed to be nicer to him, and holding his hand wasn’t that bad.

“So,” started Bilbo, “Where are we going?”

Bofur smiled. “I’m taking you to that restaurant Ori told you about. You know, the one that Dwalin took him. You looked so excited about it so I know you will love it.”

“Yeah.” The truth was that Bilbo was only excited about Ori’s date and how much effort Dwalin put in it. He didn’t care about the restaurant and he certainly wasn’t happy about going there on a date, but Bofur picked it out and he could fake being happy at least for a few hours.

He really didn’t understand what people had with restaurants and cinema for the first date. In his opinion it was boring. Didn’t anyone have just a little imagination about first dates? Wasn’t this like the most important part when you start a relationship with someone? If Bilbo’s first date with Bofur was any indication, apparently not.

:::

Bilbo came back to the mansion a couple of minutes before midnight. He was tired and he wanted nothing more than to climb into his bed and sleep. Date with Bofur was uneventful. They walked to the restaurant, had dinner, took a walk and then came back to the mansion. Bofur tried to kiss him several times but Bilbo managed to avoid every single one of his attempts. It’s not that he didn’t want to kiss him, it was more because a kiss always means something and he didn’t want to give Bofur false hope. He still saw him as his friend and he couldn’t imagine him as anything more. Still, Bofur was a perfect gentleman the entire night and Bilbo was happy he went out with him.

When he finally got back to his room and turned on the light he jumped with surprise. Kíli was lying on his bed, obviously waiting for him.

“You two took your time. Don’t tell me you had so much fun,” commented Kíli.

“Don’t start, please.”

“Was it that bad?”

Bilbo sighed. “He took me to a restaurant-“

“Long story short: it was boring,” summarized Kíli.

“Yeah.”

“So no Goodnight kiss?” asked Kíli.

“He gave me a kiss on the cheek, but nothing more happened between us.”

“He doesn’t get you blood going, doesn’t he?”

“No,” admitted Bilbo. “He is my friend. I’ll never see him as something more.”

“He is not my brother.”

Bilbo remained silent for a moment. “No, he is not Thorin. But this is a good thing.”

“Why? Don’t you like being around my brother? Don’t you love the feeling when your blood is rushing into some inappropriate places,” teased Kíli and Bilbo blushed. “You do feel that when you are close to him don’t you?”

Bilbo avoided eye contact bit he still felt Kíli’s eyes on him. “Fine. Yes, I do,” admitted Bilbo. “It’s not my fault he is so good looking.”

Kíli couldn’t help but laugh. “Don’t worry, your next date will be the best one you ever had.”

“I certainly hope so. No fancy restaurants or things like that. I want something simple and I want to have fun.”

Before Bilbo was able to finish that thought they heard music coming from outside the house. They both froze on the spot and tried to figure out from where the music was coming from.

“Is that coming from our garden?” asked Kíli, but before he was able to finish his thought they were both rushing to the window. They almost broke it in their rush to open it. They wanted to know what was going on.

Bilbo frowned when he saw Thorin standing in the garden. He was the last person he wanted to see right now. Still, Thorin was standing there and the music was playing on the stereo he clearly dragged from the living room. It took a moment before Bilbo recognized the song and the realization what Thorin was doing woke up the butterflies in his stomach.

“What is he doing?” asked Kíli.

Bilbo just smiled, but didn’t answer. He didn’t have to really, because Thorin sang the first line.

_“You're just too good to be true…”_

Kíli and Bilbo couldn’t help but burst out laughing. It was hilarious to see Thorin try so hard.

_“Can't take my eyes off of you_  
 _You'd be like heaven to touch_  
 _I wanna hold you so much.”_

Bilbo actually felt really bad for laughing at Thorin, but he just couldn’t stop. Thorin was apparently trying to do everything so that he would forgive him. Even if that meant making himself look like an idiot.

_“At long last love has arrived_  
 _And I thank God I'm alive_  
 _You're just too good to be true_  
 _Can't take my eyes off of you.”_

“Are you seeing this?” laughed Fíli from the other window. “He completely lost it.”

“It’s sweet,” said Bilbo and Kíli hugged him.

“My brother prepared you a serenade. I think that means something,” he said in Bilbo’s ear. “Fíli? Are you filming this?”

“I wouldn’t miss it for nothing in this world,” answered Fíli who was already holding his phone. The next time he will need something from his brother he will able to use this as blackmail.

_“Pardon the way that I stare_  
 _There's nothing else to compare_  
 _The sight of you leaves me weak_  
 _There are no words left to speak_  
 _So if you feel like I feel_  
 _Please let me know that it's real_  
 _You're just too good to be true_  
 _Can't take my eyes off of you.”_

Bilbo listened Thorin sing. Even though he was still very much angry at him, his heart has apparently already forgiven him. He wanted nothing more but to run downstairs into Thorin’s welcoming arms.

“What should I do?” he asked.

“What do you think?” Kíli made it sound like it was the most obvious thing to do. “Go down to him. Now!” He smiled and watched Bilbo run downstairs.

Bilbo made a few seconds stop in the kitchen before he entered the garden. He knew that Fíli and Kíli were watching him and he didn’t want to look like a desperate girl.

“What are you doing, Thorin?” He wanted to sound annoyed and he partly succeeded.

“Isn’t it obvious?” asked Thorin after he turned the music off.

“Then why are doing this?” asked Bilbo and closed the distance between them. He spoke quietly because he didn’t want for Fíli and Kíli to hear everything.

“Isn’t it obvious?” repeated Thorin.

“Are you drunk?!”

“No!” Thorin shook his head. “I had one beer while I was with Dwalin-“

“Poor Ori,” commented Bilbo.

“I had a problem that urgently required my best friend’s attention. Their date could wait for a few hours.”

“Do you ever think about anyone else than yourself?”

Thorin looked Bilbo in the eyes, he wasn’t sure if the younger boy was serious. “I do think about other people! I think about them a lot. I mean just look at me… I made an idiot out of myself so that maybe you would start speaking to me again.” A smiled formed on Bilbo’s face. “I spent few hours with Ori, practically on my knees-“

“Poor Ori,” teased Bilbo. “He had to suffer you for a few hours.”

“Don’t laugh! Mahal knows with how many things I had to bribe him so that he told me what _might_ work so that you would start talking to me again.”

“And what would that thing be?” Bilbo asked.

“This… He said that you might like it if this would be like in a movie.”

“I’m so happy you said that.” Bilbo smiled and emptied a glass of water on Thorin’s head. Up until now he kept it hidden behind his back so that Thorin couldn’t see it.

“What was that for?!” Thorin sounded angry but he wasn’t. He was just surprised.

“Movie experience,” explained Bilbo.

“What kind of movie experience? With a glass of water? Where did you see that?”

Bilbo rolled his eyes. “Well it would be kind of difficult to bring a bucket of water here without you noticing and it would be even harder for me to empty it on your head.”

“Fine. Have you movie experience. What happens next?”

“Nothing,” answered Bilbo plainly and turned to go back inside, but Thorin caught him by his arm. _YES! YES! YES!_ Before Bilbo could even say something Thorin pulled him back to him and clashed their lips into a passionate kiss. _Movie experience… This is so much better._

Bilbo didn’t protest and threaded his fingers in Thorin’s hair and allowed him to pull him closer. He couldn’t help but smile when he heard Fíli and Kíli cheering loudly from the window. Thorin’s tongue was immediately allowed access into his mouth and Bilbo allowed him to take control. He was too lost to even know what he was doing. One of Thorin’s hands was on his back, pulling him as close as possible, while the other was on his neck, tilting his head up just enough to make kissing even possible, when they were so close together. Bilbo felt like he was about to explode with happiness. The butterflies in his stomach were making all kinds of turns and for a moment Bilbo wasn’t sure if the movement he felt were really butterflies or something else.

They had to pull apart at some point because they needed some air. Bilbo looked Thorin in the eyes and smiled.

He reached with his hand up toward Thorin’s face, but Thorin caught his hand.

“I don’t care if this is the movie experience, you still don’t get to slap me after this.”

Bilbo rolled his eyes and freed his hand from Thorin’s grip. He cupped Thorin’s cheek and with his thumb brushed away the drop of water that came from Thorin’s wet hair.

“You went out with Bofur,” commented Thorin calmly.

“He asked me out and I said yes,” replied Bilbo and took a step back.

“If I would have asked you to go out with me, would you have said yes?” Bilbo just smiled and turned around to go back inside. “Bilbo!” called Thorin.

The younger boy stopped and turned around to face him. “Yes. I would have said yes.”

Thorin smiled happily. “Will you go out with me?”

Bilbo smiled and shook his head before he headed back inside. “Goodnight, Thorin!”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is my favorite chapter!!! It was just fun to write it. I know that you are all thinking that Bilbo forgave Thorin and they are together now, but think again… This is me and if you were reading this story than you know how this goes, don’t you…
> 
> I wrote Bilbo's reaction based on my personal experience. If am really angry at my best friend he usually tries to do everything to make me happy again as his way of apologizing and he usually succeeds. But that doesn’t mean it’s all good between us, when we calm down and think everything through, we always talk about what happened, and then we are back to normal.


	18. Chapter 18

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine.

Over the weekend everyone was really busy. They all had a lot of school work to do so neither of them left their own bedroom for long. The twins stayed with Bilbo in the mansion while Thorin ‘moved’ to Dwalin over the weekend to work on a project together. Bilbo didn’t see him for two days so he was rather excited about Monday morning.

For once Bilbo didn't have trouble sleeping. He and Thorin kissed. Again. Well not really again because the first time Thorin kissed Bilbo and Bilbo didn’t participate in the kiss while this time it was Bilbo who allowed Thorin to kiss him, but not because he felt bad for Thorin, but because he wanted to kiss him. He wanted to kiss him really badly. _I didn’t want to kiss him. It would be wrong if I didn’t. He put a lot of effort into making me forgive him. But I didn’t forgive him, at least not yet. You still have to admit that he was right. Everything he told you was the truth, even though you don’t want to see it. Alright, alright… I don’t want to see it. I have feelings too, you know. For Thorin. Nooo... I wasn’t thinking when I kissed him. You never do when you are around him. Fine, stop talking. But- Seriously, stop talking._

Bilbo entered the kitchen like he did every morning to get breakfast. Fíli and Kíli were already there and so was Thorin. One could say that Bilbo was and wasn’t surprised to see him there. For one part it was strange because Thorin never ate breakfast, but still it was expected from Thorin to show up in the morning, all happy and smiling. But that smile didn’t last long.

“Morning,” greeted Bilbo and sat down. He didn’t ignore Thorin, but he also didn’t pay any extra attention to him. He filled his plate and started eating without looking up again. Fíli and Kíli on the other hand kept looking up from their plate so see the awkward interaction between Bilbo and their brother.

Thorin remained still for a few minutes before reaching up for a glass and pouring some juice for Bilbo. “Here,” he said and put it in front of Bilbo.

“Thanks,” answered Bilbo and took a sip without looking at Thorin. He could feel his eyes on him and Kíli’s too, but it was no one’s business what happened the previous night. He knew that Thorin wanted to talk to him, more like do something else, but he wasn’t ready for that yet. His heart made a decision long ago, but his head refused to follow.

“We’ll wait for you in the car,” said Fíli before the twins picked up their bags and left, leaving Bilbo and Thorin alone.

Bilbo pushed away from the table and put his plate in the sink, while Thorin took his bag. “Thanks,” mumbled Bilbo and took his bag from Thorin.

“Hey, what’s wrong?” Thorin asked as he stopped him. He was really concerned that something was bothering Bilbo. Bilbo looked him in the eyes, but said nothing. “Please tell me what’s wrong and I’ll help you fix it.”

“There’s nothing wrong,” answered Bilbo and pulled away from Thorin, only to be stopped again.

“Let me drive you to school,” Thorin offered.

“No need. I already have company.”

“Bofur,” stated Thorin plainly. He didn’t like that, not one bit. “Let me guess, he asked you and you said yes?” Thorin was now really annoyed; one could say he was jealous.

“Why are you even asking if you already know the answer?” Snapped Bilbo.

“Why do you always have to say yes to everything he asks you?!” The way their conversation was going it will soon become a shouting match. “You cave to his every whim.”

“As long as I don’t cave to yours,” spat Bilbo back.

“What’s that supposed to mean? I didn’t force you to do anything you didn’t want to do.”

“You being all nice, you greeting me in the morning, you offering me breakfast, you driving me to school… Do you ever do anything that doesn’t benefit you?” Questioned Bilbo. “Everything you do always has a secret agenda. I’m only stupid enough to fall for your tricks.”

“I don’t understand…” said Thorin really confused.

“Why did you kiss me last night?” Bilbo’s question was simple; Thorin’s answer apparently not so much.

“To say I was sorry-“

“No,” interrupted Bilbo. “You said you were sorry before. With words. You didn’t have to put your tongue in my mouth to say you were sorry. Why did you kiss me?”

“Because…” Thorin knew the answer to that question, but that didn’t mean he knew how to say it.

“Because…?” Encouraged Bilbo but Thorin remained silent. “And then you ask me why I say yes every time Bofur asks me out,” laughed Bilbo.

“I asked you to go out with me!”

“Right… And a few seconds ago when I asked you why you kissed me you didn’t know how to answer,” Bilbo pointed out. “You know they say that actions speak louder than words. I completely agree. But sometimes when you want something you have to say it out loud. I’m going to ask you a different question. Why did you want to go out with me?” Once again Thorin remained silent. He wanted to answer but he just couldn’t. Feelings, emotions… This was something he never before had to deal with before. “Just what I thought. I didn’t want much from you. A word or two would be fine, but it looks like you are not ready for even that. And I don’t want to suffer just because you don’t know what you want. Bofur answered my question, that’s why I agreed to go out with him.” Bilbo looked at Thorin once again before he left.

“Where is Bilbo?” Asked Kíli when his brother came to the car alone. “I thought he would be going with us from now on.”

“He changed his mind,” stated Thorin simply before started the car and drove to school.

:::

What Bilbo wanted was Thorin’s simple answer. He didn’t want a declaration of love or anything like that, but he wanted to know what was happening between them. How could he go out with Thorin if he wasn’t ready enough to be friends with him? He had a feeling that Thorin liked him, or he at least hoped that to be the case, but he also knew that Thorin wasn’t ready for anything like this. Thorin was never in a relationship. The closest thing to a relationship represented his brothers with whom he had to live every day. But even this was far from the real thing.

Bofur was his friend. They knew each other well enough and Bofur admitted that he liked him more than just a friend when Bilbo asked him about it. And Thorin? What kind of a relationship he had with him? They weren’t enemies, they weren’t friends, nor lovers. Nothing, to tell the truth. Bilbo wanted something more with him, but at the same time he didn’t want to get burned. He had many bad experiences with Thorin as it is. He never knew what was on his mind or what his next move will be. Thorin was really unpredictable.

As always Bofur was waiting for him with a smile playing on his face. “I thought you won’t come,” said Bofur and offered Bilbo a warm smile. He offered Bilbo his hand, but his friend walked by it like he didn’t see it. Bofur immediately knew something was wrong. “Is everything okay?”

Bilbo stopped and sighed. “No, everything is not okay. We need to talk.” At his words Bofur’s face lost its color. “This isn’t easy for me…” Bilbo took another breath. “I’m sorry that I kissed you that day. You were angry and I just wanted to make you feel better but I unintentionally did something much worse. You are my friend, my best friend and I don’t want to lie to you-“

“I know what you are about to say,” interrupted Bofur a little hurt. “You want to tell me that you see me as your friend and nothing more.” Bilbo just stared at him so Bofur continued. “I know that, but I also know you have a good heart and you are smart so you’ll make the best decision for you. I know I’m not Thorin and there is no baby that would bring us closer, but I know you better than I know myself. No matter how many times you will tell me to stop I will always fight for you and your love. I believe that one day you will return my feelings and I will patiently wait for that day to arrive.”

Bilbo was speechless. Bofur would do his best to win him over. “I’m still sorry about the kiss. I shouldn’t have done that, because a kiss always means something more.”

“I’m not sorry. I want to kiss you every day when I see you. I know you are not there yet and it may take a while, but I will wait. Until that happens I want us to stay friends.”

Bilbo smiled. “I would love that.”

:::

He spent the rest of the day at school with Bofur. Once his friend stopped trying to hold his hand or to kiss him the things between them quickly got back to normal. They talked about a lot of things but there were two topics that both avoided. The first one being Bilbo’s baby and the second one was Thorin. Bilbo really missed the time when he could talk to Bofur about Thorin, but now it would just be awkward because in a way Thorin was Bofur’s competition. The sad part was that he was already winning, without even trying.

After school Bilbo returned to the mansion. He was more tired than usual and all he wanted was to take a nap, but someone had other ideas. Not long after he returned Kíli barged into his room with heavy history books. “Bilbo,” he whined, “I need your help.”

“Again?” Asked Bilbo who was almost half asleep. “What are you doing to get so much history homework?”

Kíli remained silent because he really didn’t want to answer Bilbo’s question. Bilbo stared at him for a few minutes until he got the answer. “I fell asleep. To tell the truth I have fallen asleep several times during history class this week. But in my defense, it was really boring.”

“So Master Elrond gave you homework to do what you could have done in school if you weren’t sleeping.” It wasn’t a question, but Kíli still nodded. “Why can’t you just stay awake and listen to his lessons,” Bilbo complained.

“Because they are really boring. Who cares what happened it the past. What’s important is the future,” Kíli pointed out and sent Bilbo a look. Before Bilbo could say anything Kíli was already sitting on the bed next to him. “I saw you with Bofur today. Thorin didn’t like that, not in the slightest.”

“I don’t care what Thorin thinks,” Bilbo answered back and started going through the books Kíli brought.

“But you should. I don’t know what happened this morning, but Thorin wasn’t happy when he drove us to school. You were both so happy when you kissed. What changed?”

Bilbo kept going through the book and ignored him until Kíli stopped him. He let out a breath before speaking. “I asked him why he kissed me.”

“And…?”

“What do you think?” Asked Bilbo a little annoyed. “He just stared at me like I asked him a super hard question.”

“Well for Thorin it probably sounded like that. He knows what he wants but for the first time in his life I think he is scared that if he makes a mistake you will never speak to him again.” Bilbo raised an eyebrow. “I talked to Ori. Apparently my brother and Dwalin had a long discussion over this. And you know how Dwalin is, he can’t say no to Ori.”

“What are you trying to say?”

 “He is worried that if he answers your question differently that you would want him to, you won’t speak to him ever again,” explained Kíli.

“That’s absurd. I have forgiven him for everything he ever did to me,” reasoned Bilbo.

“And yet when he asked you out you still didn’t give him an answer,” reminded him Kíli. “So in his eyes you still haven’t forgiven him.”

“I won’t go out with him. We are not even friends.” Stated Bilbo firmly.

“You never gave him the chance to be your friend,” Kíli pointed out. “I know you were angry at him and he was angry at you too, but every time he tried to approach you, you found a way to make him go away like you don’t want him near you. I’m not saying that this is all your fault because I witnessed most of my brother’s reactions, but you also can’t blame him for everything. When Thorin was nice to you, you accused him of different things and because he didn’t understand the subtext of your words he yelled at you and then you two had a fight.”

Bilbo stared at Kíli for a minute, thinking of what he said. He was right; he never gave Thorin a chance to be his friend. He claimed that he has forgiven him, but he still found an excuse in his head every time Thorin did something nice to him. He was the one that made Thorin the ‘bad guy’, not Thorin. Now when Kíli pointed this out to him he finally saw that he wasn’t fair to Thorin. “Maybe it is my fault. But-“

“Stop,” interrupted Kíli, “Once again you are trying to make Thorin the bad guy here. Why don’t you just give him a chance? He will do his best to make you happy, I can assure you that.”

“Why?”

“Because I have never seen my brother look at anyone like he looks at you. Give him a chance,” encouraged Kíli. “It may be hard and he will probably make a lot of mistakes, but if you help him a little you two can be happy. You’ll need to be patient because Thorin has no idea what the word relationship means,” laughed Kíli, “But I’m sure that for you he is prepared to learn. For both of you,” he added.

:::

Bilbo spent the rest of the day helping Kíli with his history homework. He didn’t mind helping him, but he was having some trouble concentrating on the given task. He kept thinking about Kíli’s words and he couldn’t stop feeling bad about the way he treated Thorin. Part of him was convinced that the bastard deserved the way he was treated, but the other part of him disagreed. The only problem was which side of him will win.

As if the day wasn’t long enough, Thráin decided to have dinner with his family. Nor Kíli nor Bilbo wanted to go downstairs but neither of them had much of a choice regarding the matter. They could only hope that Thorin and Thráin will remain civilized.

“As you all know in three days we will celebrate Durin’s day,” announced Thráin during dinner.

“Durin’s day?” Whispered Bilbo.

“Our New Year,” explained Kíli. “We don’t celebrate it like we used to.” Before he could say something else Thráin continued.

“I and my wife will be going away for a few days like always. I deserve some vacation as well.”

“With all the hard work,” muttered Thorin under his breath loud enough for his father to hear him. Luckily Thráin was in a good mood and decided to ignore his son.

“You on the other hand will be staying here. Before you start complaining let me that everyone is coming back home.”

“Everyone?” Asked Kíli with excitement.

“Yes,” confirmed Thráin. “Our house is big enough so you are going to celebrate New Year here. Thorin, you are in charge. No wild parties or anything, the house must stay intact.”

“Great,” muttered Fíli. The last thing he hoped for was for Thorin to be left in charge.

Bilbo stayed quiet for the rest of the dinner. He didn’t understand who’s coming or why, but he decided to wait until he and Kíli could talk alone. “So let’s see if I got this right. You will be celebrating New Year in the middle of October?” Asked Bilbo after dinner when he was alone with Kíli and Fíli in his room.

“We don’t really celebrate it anymore,” explained Fíli. “Now it’s just like one of our holidays.”

“Oh… And who is coming back?”

“Balin, Óin and Gloin,” answered Kíli.

“And Daín,” added Fíli. Kíli immediately sent him a look. “Don’t look at me like that. Dad invited him so he’ll be staying with us.”

Kíli buried his face in one of Bilbo’s pillows. “What’s wrong?”

“Daín is an ass, that’s wrong,” grumbled Kíli. “You’ll see once he gets here. He thinks he is the smartest one in the room and he’ll do his best to annoy Thorin.”

“Then why has your father invited him?”

“He is our cousin,” explained Fíli. “It would be rude not to.”

“Then maybe I could go home for a few days if you’ll have visitors. I don’t want to intrude.”

“Are you crazy? You are staying here,” ordered Kíli. “I want you to meet Balin, Óin and Gloin. I’m sure you’ll be friends with them because they will love you.”

“Are you sure?”

“Of course I’m sure,” confirmed Kíli. “They are all smart like you are; I can assure you that you’ll find something to talk about. They all go to the best Universities around here so maybe they can help you find a way to get in. They have a lot of connections.”

Bilbo only nodded in response. He could only hope to go to university but he knew the chanced were slim. He made a decision and now he’ll have to live with it.

The next morning Thráin and Valla left. Bilbo had no idea that happened up until lunch where Kíli happily announced that they were once again home alone. He didn’t talk to Thorin much, because there was never the opportunity to. He would swear that Thorin did his best to stay out of his sight. Whenever they saw each other he said hello to him, but that was basically it. And Bilbo very quickly learned that he was starting to miss having Thorin around him. Not that he would admit that to anyone.

The days went by quickly and before he knew it he was sitting in the living room with Fíli and Kíli waiting everyone to arrive. Dwalin and Ori arrived first because they wanted to get some time together before Dori would join them. Luckily for both of them Thorin offered to get Balin from the train station.

“When do you think everyone is coming?” Asked Kíli, impatiently.

“I don’t know,” answered Dwalin and pulled Ori in his lap closer to him. “The longer they take to come here the better for me.”

“So you still haven’t told Dori?” Asked Bilbo.

“Don’t start,” warned Dwalin, but I was already too late because Ori turned around to face Bilbo.

“No we haven’t. And it’s not my fault. Every time I bring the subject up he finds a way to distract me,” complained Ori.

Dwalin smiled before placing a few kissed on Ori’s cheek. “It’s not really hard to find a way to distract you,” he purred.

“I did not need to know that,” complained Kíli. “Just tell Dori already and be done with it.”

“I wanted to do it,” started Ori, “But he refuses to talk to my brother. Now I will have to avoid him because my brother doesn’t know.”

“Dori would kill me,” reasoned Dwalin. “He thinks I’m too old for you.”

“I don’t care what Dori thinks. I just want to tell him so that we won’t have to hide anymore. I have enough of this. I want to kiss you whenever I want and my brother will just have to live with it.”

“I repeat, if we tell him he will kill me. Then you can forget about kissing me.”

Ori was able to place one last kiss on Dwalin’s lips before the heard the front door open. This meant only one thing. Daín was here.

“Is anybody home?!”

Dwalin was the first one to get up to greet him. Beside Thorin he was the only one who could control Daín when he became really annoying. “Daín, welcome.”

“Thank you,” smiled Daín. “Fíli, Kíli, Ori…” He greeted until his eyes met Bilbo’s. “I don’t believe we’ve met before.”

“Nope. I’m Bilbo,” he introduced himself and offered Daín his hand.

“So, who are you dating?”

“Excuse me?” Asked Bilbo.

“Well I think it’s normal to assume you are dating someone I know since you are here and I’ve never seen you before.”

“I’m not dating anyone,” answered Bilbo, confused.

“Interesting…”

They all returned back to the living room and waited for everyone else to join them. It didn’t take long before Óin and Gloin arrived and Bilbo had to admit that they were much better company than Daín. Óin was studying medicine so Bilbo wasn’t really surprised when after a few minutes of talking with him Óin was able to figure out that he was pregnant. His large shirt did a very good job of hiding his belly, but not good enough for a trained eye of a doctor who was able to connect all the facts rather quickly.

Soon Dori and Nori joined them and with their arrival Dwalin and Ori started avoiding each other. They did a very good job but Bilbo had a feeling Nori knew that something was going on. A part of Bilbo couldn’t wait for Thorin to come back. He was hoping to at least exchange a few words with him, not just pleasantries. It didn’t take long for Thorin to arrive with Balin. Balin was very polite and he knew his way with words. Bilbo immediately liked him. He had a feeling that like his brother, Balin was one of Thorin’s oldest friends and his confidant.

Things got a little awkward when Bofur, Bombur and Bifur joined them, but they quickly forgot about everything since Bilbo ignored them both Thorin and Bofur. This wasn’t a party, per say. There was food and drinks, but it still wasn’t like a party Fíli and Kíli managed to organize. The only one who thought this was a party was Daín, who was the only one who consumed enough alcohol to get drunk.

“So what do you want to study?” Asked Balin once he got a few minutes alone to talk with Bilbo. Ori, Fíli and Kíli were once again playing games on the TV so most of the guests were focused on them.

“Me? I wanted to study literature. I wanted to go to Rivendell. They have a large library so I would be able to do some research there,” answered Bilbo and nervously played with the empty glass in his hand.

“You said you wanted to go. Does that mean that you don’t want to do it anymore? Did you change your mind?” Asked Balin.

“No, no…” quickly said Bilbo. “I still want to go, but I accepted the fact that it’s not happening… So, why dwell over something that will never happen.”

Balin was silent for a few moments. “So what are your plans for the future? You must have thought about that.”

Bilbo was a little embarrassed to answer all of Balin’s questions, but he didn’t want to hide it. Sooner or later everyone will know so what was the point. “Once I’m done here-“ started Bilbo with a lump in his throat.

“You mean with the baby?” Interrupted Balin and Bilbo nodded in response.

“Once I’m done here I will move back to my parents and finish high school,” he continued after he cleared his throat.

“And then?”

“I already worked in the grocery store nearby so…” Bilbo looked away for a second. It wasn’t easy for him to talk about these things. “If you’ll excuse me for just a moment,” he said before he disappeared into the kitchen. He pretended that he wanted to get something to drink, but in reality he just wanted to get away for a few minutes before he would start crying. He accepted the things as they were and he decided not to cry over them so for these tears that escaped his eyes only his hormones could be blamed.

“Interesting…”

Bilbo jumped with surprise when Daín spoke. He quickly wiped his tears away before facing him. “I didn’t hear you enter.”

“Of course you didn’t. You are so busy with yourself,” Daín continued. “So tell me, what are you hiding?”

Bilbo just stared at Daín. “What makes you think I’m hiding something?”

“You are definitely hiding something,” continued Daín and looked at Bilbo as if he was the hunter and Bilbo the game.

“I have no idea what you are talking about,” insisted Bilbo.

“The way he looks at you. Like he actually cares. He watches your every move only to make sure you are happy. And the other one, whose feelings you’ll most likely never return, is still hoping for his happy ending.” Daín was obviously a really good observer, but he was also very creepy and Bilbo started to feel uncomfortable with Daín standing so close to him. “You say that you are not dating anyone, yet here you are. There has to be a reason for that.” Daín reached toward Bilbo’s shirt and automatically Bilbo took a step back. Daín grinned because he guessed right. “Let’s see what you’re hiding.”

Bilbo had no other option but to try to back away from Daín, but unfortunately he quickly felt the kitchen counter blocking his exit. Now he was trapped. Once again Daín reached for his shirt and this time Bilbo slapped his hand away. “No!”

“Come on, let me see…” Daín managed to grab the hem of Bilbo’s shirt and tried to pull it up while Bilbo did his best not to let him win. Unfortunately for him Daín was much stronger than him and was easily winning the fight.

“Let go of me! Let go of my shirt!”

“I just want to take a look.”

A moment before Daín would get his way someone pulled him back. “He told you to let go!” Growled Thorin and pushed Daín into the wall. He turned back to Bilbo who was breathing heavily. “Are you alright?” Daín used his lack of focus to push him away and before Thorin even realized Daín’s fist connected with his face.

“Thorin!” Gasped Bilbo.

It took him only a few seconds to realize what was happening before he once again pushed Daín into the wall. He would probably beat him beyond recognition if it wasn’t for Dwalin who ran into the kitchen the moment he heard Bilbo’s cry for help.

“Thorin,” said Dwalin and pulled his friend away. “Stop!” Daín would probably try to attack him again if Dwalin wouldn’t release his friend and pull him away. “You are drunk,” he stated firmly and dragged him from the kitchen.

“Come with me,” ordered Thorin and pulled Bilbo out with him. The younger boy couldn’t do much but follow him. Thorin led him to the bathroom and closed the door behind them. “Are you alright?” He asked as he cupped Bilbo’s cheeks to force him to look him in the eyes. “Are you both alright?”

“I’m fine, Thorin,” said Bilbo and pushed away from him as if Thorin’s touch has burned him.

Thorin nodded before he turned around and searched the cabinet for the medical kit. Daín’s fist still managed to cut his lip. It wasn’t bad, but Thorin still wanted to take care of it. Bilbo immediately realized he did something wrong. Again. Thorin tried to help him and he once again pushed him away.

“Here, let me help,” said Bilbo softly and pushed Thorin to sit on the edge of the bathtub. He gently lifted his chin up to get a better look. As expected Thorin hissed in pain the moment Bilbo touched his lip. “Sorry.” Thorin’s hands slowly reached toward Bilbo’s belly, but Bilbo slapped them away. A minute later Thorin automatically did the same when the pain became unbearable. “Thorin no!” Said Bilbo and once again slapped his hands away from his belly. He didn’t want anyone touching him, not after Daín wanted to do the same.

“Why did you keep it?” Asked Thorin after a few minutes of silence.

Bilbo looked him in the eyes for a moment before he focused back on his lip. It took him a few minutes before he spoke. “I worked very hard for everything I earned in my life,” he started slowly. “All my grades, my toys, my presents, books,… I had to help someone to get them. I didn’t mind because my parents told me that was the right thing to do, but I still couldn’t help but feel that nothing was really mine. Most of the clothes I got from my cousins and later Frodo got them. Small gifts for my birthday weren’t really for me because I have a little brother so he didn’t understand that they were meant for me. I had to share everything I got, because nothing was really mine. I tried to do good in school so that I would get a scholarship, but I still knew that my parents would have to pay some of it and that meant that my brother would be left out. No matter how much I wanted certain things I knew I couldn’t get them. And then I found out I was pregnant. The first thing in my life that would belong to me, only to me. I was happy and terrified at the same time because I wasn’t sure how things would work out, but I still decided to keep it because it was mine. I’ve never imagined for things to go the way they did.”

Bilbo took a deep breath before he spoke again. “A part of me was happy because it was also a part of you. I wanted to keep a part of you for myself. I know I was selfish but I just couldn’t let go.”

“Yet you still decided to sell the baby to my father,” said Thorin once Bilbo was done. The moment he said those words he knew he did something wrong because Bilbo left the bathroom before he could say another word.

:::

It took Thorin almost half an hour to find him. Bilbo was standing in the garden looking at the full moon.

“It’s a beautiful night,” said Thorin.

“It is.” Bilbo could feel as Thorin put his jacket on his shoulders to keep him warm. He was so upset he ran outside wearing nothing but his shirt. “I’m sorry about what I did,” apologized Bilbo. “But I was trying to do what I thought was the best for my baby. We are not in the best financial situation at home and your father threatened to get this baby one way or another. You don’t know how it feels not knowing if your parents will still have a job next month. Your father promised me to take good care of my baby. My baby will have everything. A roof over its head, food, good education, carefree life… I was never going to pass on the opportunity like this.” Bilbo turned around to face Thorin. “I’m sorry,” he said, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Thorin cupped his cheeks and wiped them away. “I’m not angry about what you did. I just feel betrayed that you did this all behind my back. If you would just have talked to me, maybe things would be different.”

Bilbo couldn’t hold back anymore. He wrapped his arms around Thorin and started crying into his chest. No matter how much he tried to deny it, he needed him close. Thorin wrapped his arms around him and allowed him to cry for a few minutes. “Everything is going to be alright, you’ll see,” soothed Thorin. “We’ll get through this together.”

Bilbo smiled through his tears before getting on his toes and pressing a kiss to Thorin’s cheek. Thorin smiled before he leaned down and gave Bilbo a kiss on the lips. They both pulled back immediately. Thorin’s hand went on his still sore lip, while Bilbo’s hand went on his belly.

“Is everything alright?” Asked Thorin, worried that something was wrong.

_I felt my baby. That was definitely my baby._ “Everything is perfect,” smiled Bilbo, a hand still resting on the swell of his belly.

“Let’s go back inside. Everyone is probably wondering where we are,” said Thorin before he led Bilbo back in the house while holding his hand.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I absolutely hate Bilbo’s whining. Seriously, it’s getting annoying.
> 
> So, did you like this chapter? We are slowly getting somewhere. Really slowly. But you know, things can change. Judging by the ending, things are looking really good for the two of them. Are they really?
> 
> I want them to be together already, but at the same time I don’t. But we have to make some progress with them before certain someone can screw things up once again. Don’t you agree? I’m not doing this on purpose, but if you’ll read the next few chapters carefully you’ll quickly realize that something is wrong. I’m not telling you what. You’ll just have to wait and see.


	19. Chapter 19

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine.

**“It sounds so nice, what you're proposing…”**

“You won't believe what you missed last night,” was the first thing Kíli said when Bilbo walked into the kitchen the next morning. He just woke up and wasn’t really aware what was going on around him and Kíli already had something important to tell him. Bilbo just rolled his eyes before he sat down to get some breakfast. Kíli took this as his cue to continue. “After you went to sleep last night… Why did you go to sleep so early again?”

“I was tired,” explained Bilbo plainly.

“Well after you left we stayed in the living room and you know, talked. When out of a sudden Nori called Dwalin out! Can you believe this? He said that he knows that he likes his brother. We just couldn’t believe his words. Dori almost choked himself on that piece of cupcake he was eating.”

This definitely caught Bilbo’s attention. “And what happened then?”

“What do you think?! Dwalin said that he could never like someone like Ori and Ori of course run out of the house.”

“Poor Ori, he doesn’t deserve to be treated like that,” commented Bilbo.

“Dori was obviously very happy with the result because I don’t think Ori will forgive Dwalin for that,” said Kíli. “He looked really hurt when he ran out of the house.”

“Of course he was hurt! How do you think he feels? It must be horrible for him right now,” said Bilbo.

“Dwalin went after him when Balin sent him a look, but that’s all we know. I don’t know if he found him yet.”

“And Thorin?” Asked Bilbo casually, like he wasn’t interested at all.

“Thorin went with him,” explained Kíli. “I didn’t hear him return so maybe they are still looking for him or maybe he just decided to sleep somewhere else. Who knows.”

They continued to eat breakfast until it was time to leave. Fíli kept looking at his watch wondering if his brother will show up or will they have to walk to school with Bilbo. “That’s it, I’m calling him,” he announced a few minutes before they had to leave.

They all heard a phone ringing and a few seconds later Thorin joined them. “I’m here,” he announced waiving with his phone.

“Finally, I thought you will never come,” commented Fíli before picking up his bag.

“Don’t complain so much,” said Thorin as he walked by him.

“We’ll wait for you in the car,” said Kíli and followed his brother.

The moment twins were out of his sight Thorin’s expression softened. “Morning,” he smiled.

“Hey,” said Bilbo. “Where were you all night?”

“We were looking for Ori,” explained Thorin.

“And it took you entire night to find him?”

“No it took us half an hour, but the problem was that Ori refused to talk with Dwalin so I had to wait with him the entire night. Nori and Dori returned back home but Ori still refused to come out and Dwalin refused to talk with Dori. When I left they still weren’t talking. Dwalin is devastated even though this is his fault.”

“He is lucky to have you as his friend,” said Bilbo and walked to the door, but Thorin stopped him.

“Listen,” he started unsure, “Will you go out with me?”

Bilbo looked him in the eyes. “Why…?” He asked slowly. Thorin stared at him not knowing what to say so Bilbo got on his toes and pressed a quick kiss to his lips as a little encouragement.

“Because I want to get to know you better…?” Answered Thorin slowly.

Bilbo smiled. “Good enough.”

Thorin let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding. “Okay, so Friday, at eight.”

“Today is Friday,” Bilbo pointed out. It was very amusing to watch Thorin get confused like that.

“Yeah, I know. Tonight then.”

“Tonight,” agreed Bilbo.

“Do you need a ride?” Thorin quickly asked. “To school I mean.”

“No need. I already have company,” said Bilbo.

“Bofur,” Thorin frowned. He knew he had no reason to feel like he felt, but he didn’t like that Bilbo walked to school with Bofur every morning.

“Don’t be like that,” scolded Bilbo teasingly. “I’m going out with _you_ tonight. A few minute walk with Bofur won’t change anything.” Thorin leaned down to kiss him but Bilbo backed away. “None of that now,” he scolded. “Have a great day,” he smiled before he disappeared.

:::

Bilbo knew that Ori was most likely devastated. After Dwalin said Bilbo couldn’t imagine he wouldn’t be. He needed to find his friend as soon as possible and talk to him. Maybe he could help him fix his relationship with Dwalin. Luckily it didn’t take him long to find him during lunch break. “Hey, how are you holding up?” Bilbo asked as he sat down next to him. Ori found a perfect place to eat lunch. There were so many other students around them that Dwalin would have a lot of trouble finding him.

“I’m fine,” answered Ori as nothing happened. It was more than obvious that he pretended to be strong.

“Have you talked with Dwalin?” Bilbo continued his interrogation.

“Why would I talk to him? We are done. There is nothing going on between us anymore.”

Before Bilbo could say anything else he felt his phone buzz in his pocket.

_Do you know where Ori is? –T_

I’m talking with him right now. –BB

_Where are you? Dwalin wants to know. –T_

Not now. Later. –BB

He felt his phone buzz again but he decided to ignore it. “You don’t believe that,” said Bilbo. “You like Dwalin and he likes you. You two are perfect for each other.” Ori sent Bilbo a look. “You know that Dwalin didn’t mean it. He just blurted out the first thing that came to his mind. He has showed you many times that he cares about you.”

“I really don’t want to talk about it,” said Ori.  Bilbo had no other option but to drop the subject. All he could do was offer support to his friend.

Thorin was in the meantime dealing with Dwalin who was completely lost. It looked like without Ori he didn’t know what to do anymore in his life. “Did Bilbo answer your question?” He asked while pacing up and down in front of his friend.

“He is talking to him right now, but he doesn’t want to tell me where they are.”

“Then ask him again. Or better, call him, that way you’ll know if he’s lying to you,” said Dwalin.

“He ignores my texts,” answered Thorin plainly. “I don’t think calling him would make a difference. Just give him some time, maybe he will be able to convince Ori to talk to you. They are friends so there is a chance Ori might listen to him.”

“This is all Nori’s fault,” accused Dwalin. “If he would just keep his mouth shut this wouldn’t have happened.”

“I’m sorry to say it, my friend, but this is your fault, not Nori’s. If you would just talk to Dori and tell him that you like his brother this wouldn’t have happened,” pointed out Thorin.

“Don’t try to play smart,” spat Dwalin. “You are not much better than I am.”

“Actually,” started Thorin, “I asked Bilbo out and he said yes, so…”

Dwalin turned around to meet his friend’s eyes. “You have got to be joking.”

“No, I already made a few calls because I’m taking him out tonight.”

“Great,” muttered Dwalin. “You get to have fun and I’m stuck alone on a Friday night.”

“I’m not cancelling my date so I can babysit you while you get drunk. I spend enough Fridays alone when you and Ori were having _fun_ as it is,” said Thorin.

“So you are planning to do the same while I’m suffering alone?”

“No, I just want to have a great time with Bilbo. I highly doubt he would want to have sex with me on our first date,” answered Thorin.

“Congratulations!” Yelled Dwalin who was really upset that Ori still refused to talk with him. “You get to have fun, while I’m stuck alone.”

“Just go talk to Dori and all your problems will go away,” said Thorin before he patted his best friend’s shoulder and walked away.

:::

Bilbo was still worrying over Ori and Dwalin because he couldn’t watch them fight like that. What Dwalin did was wrong, but Ori should at least talk to him, give him a chance to apologize. Putting other peoples' problems aside, Bilbo couldn’t stop thinking about the date with Thorin. For once he was really excited to go out with someone. He kept staring at the clock, wishing that it would go faster.

At around six he heard Fíli and Kíli leave. “Where are you going?” He asked when he caught them in the last moment.

“We are going to Ori for the night,” said Fíli and put his bag in Thorin’s car. “We’ll try to distract him, maybe even get him in a better mood.”

“And we don’t want to disturb you,” said Kíli and winked.

“Why would you-“

“You two have the house for yourself. Have fun,” he smiled before he got in the car.

As on cue Thorin walked in. He was the one driving his brothers to Ori. “Khmmm, Thorin? A word.”

Thorin nodded and followed Bilbo who took a few steps away from the car. “How can I help you?”

“For tonight… Do I need to wear anything special or –“

“Just make sure you are comfortable and warm enough,” quickly answered Thorin. “You don’t need to complicate.”

“Oh…”

“I’ll see you later,” said Thorin. “I have to drive them to Ori’s house.”

:::

Thorin said not to complicate things, so he won’t. He’ll wear some jeans and a shirt and of course a big sweater so that he’ll be able to hide his growing baby bump. At least that was the plan. Bilbo had no idea where Thorin was taking him or what was he preparing, but he wanted to be prepared. He never imagined spending so much time in a bathroom before going out with someone, but this date was important to him so everything had to be perfect.

He was ready to go at about seven thirty, but he didn’t want to go down yet because he didn’t want to look desperate. He thought about being a few minutes late, but that wasn’t him either. He would go down exactly five minutes to eight. That way he won’t be too early, nor he would be too late. How he wished that time would move faster, just a little bit, because those twenty-five minutes seemed to be hours long.

Finally it was time to go. Bilbo wanted to do nothing else but to run downstairs, but he couldn’t. That wouldn’t be polite. He would just have to walk downstairs as if nothing important was happening to him. As expected, Thorin was waiting for him at the bottom of the stairs. He was dressed really simply. He was wearing black sweatpants and a white shirt; in his hand he was holding a hoodie. The first thing that crossed Bilbo’s mind was that he really took this ‘something comfortable’ very seriously. The second thing was that Thorin was probably cancelling their date. With each step that theory became more and more real. It all made sense. Why would Thorin even go out with him? How stupid he was to fall again for one of his tricks. Now he’ll look like an idiot and everyone will be laughing at him. He couldn’t help but feel a little hurt that Thorin would so such a thing to him after all the trouble he went through to get him to forgive him.

“Ready?” Smiled Thorin when Bilbo came down.

“You took ‘wear something comfortable’ really seriously,” commented Bilbo dryly. He didn’t want to sound disappointed or anything.

“Well I want to be comfortable. I hope that you are too.”

“So you are not cancelling out date?” Questioned Bilbo carefully.

“No! Why would I do that? I went through enough trouble for you to agree to go out with me. I’m not going to cancel it,” answered Thorin. “I’m taking you out tonight no matter what.”

“Oh…”

“Do you want to go change?” Asked Thorin carefully.

“Can I? I don’t want us to be late or anything.”

“We won’t be late,” assured him Thorin. “Take your time.”

With that said Bilbo ran back upstairs and change into something comfortable. Wherever Thorin was taking him it was obviously acceptable to wear sweatpants. He got changed as quickly as he could before running back downstairs. “I’m back.”

Thorin offered him his hand which Bilbo immediately accepted before leading him to his car. Like a perfect gentleman he opened the doors for Bilbo before getting into a car. Bilbo already fastened his seatbelt when Thorin did something unexpected. “Ready to go?” Bilbo nodded, unsure why Thorin asked that so many times. The next thing Thorin did was get out of the car and once again opened Bilbo’s door and offered him his hand. Bilbo eyed the offered hand skeptically before sighing and getting out of the car.

Thorin just smirked before he led Bilbo back into the house and to the garden. Bilbo’s mouth fell open when he saw what Thorin prepared. There was a huge projection screen in the middle of the garden and a cinema projector behind a giant pile of pillows. “In my opinion this counts as taking you out, because technically speaking we are outside the house. And I know going to the cinema is boring so I thought this would be more fun,” explained Thorin.

“How…” was the only thing Bilbo got out of himself. He couldn’t believe what Thorin prepared for him. It was better than he could have ever imagined. He never had a chance to see a movie under the stars.

“I know some people,” shrugged Thorin. “Why don’t you get comfortable and I’ll bring us food?”

Bilbo nodded before he started rearranging a pile of pillows. He didn’t understand how Thorin was able to pull off something like this. Thorin apparently thought of everything because there were a few candles placed around them and a few blankets to keep them warm. It was perfect. He lit the candles before arranging the pillows so that they could sit comfortably on them.

Thorin returned a few minutes later with a tray in his hands. “Hold this for a second.”

Bilbo accepted the tray. “Pizza and a can of soda?” He smiled fondly.

“There is nothing better to eat while watching a movie,” answered Thorin. “Besides, you should appreciate it, I made it myself.” Bilbo raised an eyebrow. “Fine, Nola helped. But just a little. I did most of the work.”

“Well, it smells delicious,” commented Bilbo. Only the crust was a little burned, other than that it looked delicious.

“I don’t care how it smells. I just hope that it tastes good.”

Bilbo watched Thorin for a minute playing with the projector. “Do you need some help?”

“I know how this works...” Bilbo just smiled and rolled his eyes at Thorin’s refusal to ask for help. But after a few minutes Thorin managed to turn it on. He quickly joined Bilbo on the pillows and pulled two blankets over them.

“So, what are we watching?”

“Dumb and dumber,” answered Thorin and Bilbo could help but to burst out laughing. “Is something wrong?”

“No, everything is fine. You couldn’t have made a better choice,” smiled Bilbo who was already having fun. He found a comfortable position to watch the movie before Thorin offered him a slice of pizza. He watched him intensely as Bilbo took his first bite. “It's actually really good,” he praised.

“Thank you,” said Thorin, already full of himself. “I knew what I was doing. I’m a natural.”Once again Bilbo couldn’t help but laugh at Thorin’s words.

They devoured the pizza in no time so when once again Thorin’s hands were free he pulled Bilbo closer. Bilbo had his legs in Thorin’s lap and is head was resting on his chest while he was watching the movie. “I hope you know how to press pause because I’m not sure my bladder will be able to hold that much coke.” This time Thorin laughed because they were just watching the part where Lloyd was relieving himself in a beer bottle.

“You can always try peeing in a can,” he joked.

“Don’t joke about things like that. My bladder has started filling rather quickly in the last few months. I can’t hold it for long. You have no idea how annoying it is to get up in the middle of the night.”

Thorin put his hand on Bilbo’s belly and surprisingly the younger teen who almost sitting in his lap didn’t slap it away. Instead Bilbo covered Thorin’s hand with his own. They continued to watch the movie, but as they were nearing the end Thorin realized something was wrong. Bilbo was too calm in his lap and too quiet. His posture was completely relaxed and his head wasn’t turned toward the screen anymore.

“Bilbo?” Called Thorin softly. “Bilbo…” No reaction came from the younger teen. _Great. Dwalin will never stop laughing at me when he finds out what happened._ He carefully stood up before lifting sleeping Bilbo up bridal style and taking him back up to his room. He put him on the bed before tucking him in and pressing a kiss to his forehead. Bilbo immediately snuggled into the pillows and didn’t let anyone disturb his sleep. Thorin turned off the lights before silently closing the doors behind him.

He headed back downstairs where he cleaned everything up and blew all the candles before heading back to his room to get some sleep.

:::

When Bilbo woke up the next morning he wasn’t entirely sure where he was or how he got there, but he quickly realized he was in his room. The memories of the previous night came back to him and for a moment he thought he was dreaming. He had no idea how things ended or how he got to his room so he had to be dreaming. He got out of the bed and the first thing he noticed were his clothes. He cursed loudly when he realized that Thorin indeed took him out and prepared everything to spend an evening with him, but he fell asleep. The worst part was that he didn’t even remember when that happened.

Bilbo felt so ashamed. He had no intention falling asleep on a date with Thorin, but he was full and warm and comfortable, and it felt so good to be so close to Thorin… He was sure that Thorin was angry at him and that he will never want to go out with him. _How could something like this even happen? Why in the world did I have to fall asleep? You are so stupid Bilbo Baggins._

Bilbo didn’t know what else to do but to quickly find Thorin and apologize to him. He was sure that even Thorin wasn’t happy with their date, even though at the beginning they both seemed to have fun. He needed to find him and apologize.

He headed downstairs to the kitchen where he found him making coffee. “Thorin…”

Thorin jumped with surprise before turning around and facing Bilbo. He didn’t even hear him enter. “Morning. Would you like some coffee?”

Bilbo shook his head and took a step closer. “Thorin…” He suddenly lost his words. “I’m sorry about last night.”

“Don’t worry about it,” said Thorin plainly.

“I can’t! I’m sorry; I didn’t plan to fall asleep.”

“Really, you don’t need to worry about it,” repeated Thorin.

Bilbo took his arm and turned him around so that he could look Thorin in the eyes. “I had fun and the pizza you made was really good. But once I was full and warm and comfortable… I don’t know what happened. The next thing I remember is waking up in my bedroom. I hope you are not mad at me.”

Thorin cupped his cheeks. “I’m not mad or angry or anything. But I never imagined that someone would fall asleep on a date with me.”

“It wasn’t your fault. I-“

“Breathe,” laughed Thorin.

Bilbo rolled his eyes. “You know,” he started, “I didn’t get a Goodnight kiss last night.”

“How do you know you didn’t?” Teased Thorin and Bilbo sent him a look. “How about a good morning kiss? Would that be a good compensation?” Bilbo smiled so Thorin leaned down and pressed a kiss to his lips. Bilbo’s hands automatically found their way around Thorin’s neck, keeping him close so that the kiss would last longer. When they pulled apart Bilbo wanted to kiss him again but Thorin stopped him. “Hey, none of that now,” he scolded teasingly and Bilbo pouted. “Don’t you want some breakfast?”

“Maybe…”

“Breakfast first,” ordered Thorin before stealing another kiss. Bilbo sighed before he helped Thorin prepare their breakfast.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don’t know what has changed but for the last few chapters I got so amazing feedback. You really made my day. I’m sorry it took me so long to update but a day has only 24 hours and I’m really busy right now. I hope you liked this chapter and I’ll see you soon.


	20. Chapter 20

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine.

**“Kiss me quick because I love you so…”**

It was strange to be in a situation like this. Strange, but not unpleasant. Bilbo didn’t quite know how it happened, but for now he wasn’t complaining. So far he was enjoying what he was doing even if he was just getting the hang of it. Needless to say Thorin was far more experienced in this particular activity than he was, but he was a fast learner and Thorin was a really good teacher. Really good. Still, Bilbo wasn’t quite sure how one minute he was watching TV with Thorin and the next one he was sitting in his lap  having a make out session with him.

He was kissed before and he kissed others, but never like this. Thorin knew exactly what to do so that both were enjoying it. He was the one who was the ‘dominant’ first, but after a few minutes he allowed Bilbo to take control and so far the younger teen looked like he was enjoying their activity. He was straddling Thorin’s tights, pushing him back into the armchair. Thorin didn’t seem to mind. They broke apart every few minutes in need of air and Thorin would swear that Bilbo was impatiently waiting for him to catch his breath so that they could continue.

Bilbo would never dare to do something like that in the living room where someone could walk in any minute, but since they were the only two in the house he knew that couldn’t happen. It was strange when Thorin allowed him to take control for the first time. He thought that he just had enough and that he didn’t want to kiss him anymore. But Thorin allowing Bilbo to lead didn’t mean that. He was just allowing the younger teen to get the hang of it. Besides he didn’t allow him to take control completely. He as much participated in the make out session as Bilbo did.

Kíli thought they were loud enough when they entered the house. He was talking with his brother about Ori when they walked into the living room. Kíli didn’t expect to see something like that. He hoped that his brother and Bilbo would finally become friends so he really didn’t expect to see them like this. Bilbo’s was straddling Thorin’s tights, clearly enjoying what he was doing. His brother had his hands on the younger teen butt, pulling him as close as he could.

“Khmmm.” Kíli cleared his throat loudly after he and Fíli stared at them for a few minutes. Bilbo and Thorin immediately pulled apart with a wet pop. Bilbo’s cheeks and ears immediately turned into the same shade of pink as his swollen lips were. A few seconds ago he was enjoying what he was doing and now he was so embarrassed he wanted to run up to his room. Thorin on the other hand had a smug smile on his face, clearly not caring that they were caught. He put his arms around Bilbo so that he couldn’t escape even if he wanted to.

“We just wanted to let you know that we are back,” said Fíli, nonchalantly. “We’ll be in our room,” he added and pulled Kíli with him, who still had his eyes glued on Bilbo.

The moment they were out of sight Bilbo hid his face in Thorin’s neck. “What?” Laughed Thorin.

“I’m so embarrassed,” mumbled Bilbo in Thorin’s neck. “I won’t be able to look them in the eyes ever again.”

“They saw us kiss before,” reasoned Thorin.

“Not like this! That was just one kiss. Only Aulë knows how long they were watching us.”

“Who cares if they saw us; we weren’t doing anything inappropriate.”

“You were gripping my butt!” Bilbo pointed out and looked Thorin in the eyes.

“You have a lovely butt.”

“Ugh, don’t start,” puffed Bilbo. “Now please let me go. I want to go back to my room and hide under the covers until I find a way how to talk to Kíli without feeling so embarrassed.”

“Just one more,” pleaded Thorin with that fake innocent smile on his face.

“No,” said Bilbo, “You had plenty. Now please let me go.”

“Just one…” Bilbo rolled his eyes before giving Thorin a quick kiss and climbing off his lap. “If you want to continue this you know where you can find me,” called Thorin after him. “I’ll be in my room.”

Bilbo just shook his head and smiled before he ran upstairs.

:::

A few hours later almost everyone came back to the mansion. Even Daín who was staying with Óin and Glóin so that Thorin wouldn’t have to suffer him. The only two that didn’t come were Dwalin and Ori. Ori didn’t come because he thought that Dwalin will be there, and Dwalin didn’t come because he didn’t want to make Ori uncomfortable by being near him.

Bilbo still refused to leave his room until Kíli came to get him. “Why are you still up here,” Kíli asked when he walked into Bilbo’s room without knocking. “Everyone is downstairs.”

“I don’t want to go,” complained Bilbo.

“Should I call Thorin?” Teased Kíli and Bilbo’s ears turned red. Kíli smirked before he sat down on the bed next to his friend. “I don’t know why you are making such a big deal out of this. I admit that I didn’t expect to find you devouring my brother after one date, but it’s really not a big deal. I didn’t see anything.” Bilbo looked Kíli in the eyes. “Except Thorin gripping your ass.”

Bilbo groaned before he buried his face into the pillow. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“I would say that you are pregnant and that your hormones are going wild so you are hornier than usual.”

“We were just kissing!”

“If we would have come half an hour later you wouldn’t be wearing anything.” Bilbo was mortified. “I’m joking,” laughed Kíli. “Relax.” Bilbo let out a breath. “But I would appreciate it if you and Thorin would take into consideration that I’m fifteen. I don’t want to be scarred for life. Talking about it is one thing, see it is something completely different.”

“It was just one time thing,” said Bilbo. “It won’t happen again.”

“No, you should do it again,” encouraged Kíli. “Just not in the living room.”

“Can we please not talk about it?” Asked Bilbo.

“Fine,” agreed Kíli. “I came because I need to ask for a favor.”

“If it’s history, forget it. I’m not helping you again if you continue sleeping during class.”

“It’s about Ori and Dwalin,” explained Kíli. He didn’t look happy. “Neither of them came. Dori is here, but he hasn’t said a word. I’m worried that if we don’t force them to talk now they will never get together again.”

“What do you suggest we do? If we call them and tell them to come here they won’t come.”

“That’s why I have Dori’s phone,” mischievously smiled Kíli and waved Dori’s phone in front of Bilbo’s face.

“How?” Asked Bilbo who couldn’t believe his eyes.

“Nori,” simply answered Kíli. “He knows about Dwalin and Ori and he is prepared to do everything to see his little brother happy again.”

“Okay,” said Bilbo slowly, “That’s how we call Ori. What about Dwalin?”

“That’s where you come in?”

“Me?” Questioned Bilbo.

“Yes. I need you to get Thorin’s phone.”

“Why me?”

“Because you have better access to his pockets than I have,” pointed out Kíli. “He won’t say no to you. And if he does you can distract him.”

“I can’t be around Thorin right now. Bofur is down there. How do you think he feels? I’m not doing this to him,” stated Bilbo firmly.

“Just get the phone from Thorin and then you can ignore him for the rest of the day,” ordered Kíli.

Bilbo didn’t have much of a choice but to do what he was told. He returned with Kíli to the living room and took a seat next to Thorin. He could only hope that no one would notice anything. He decided to ignore Thorin as much as possible, but it was really hard since Thorin kept finding a way to touch him ‘accidently’. His hand, his knee, his thigh,… Bilbo kept pretending to ignore him, but it was really hard. Luckily Balin soon engaged in conversation with him so Thorin forgot about Bilbo for a couple of minutes while talking to his old friend.

Bilbo used the opportunity and carefully reached into Thorin’s pocket to get the phone out, but there was absolutely no way he could get it without Thorin noticing. He wasn’t a really good burglar. Surprisingly Thorin didn’t protest about him wanting his phone and pulled his phone out of his pocket and gave it to Bilbo. “Thanks,” whispered Bilbo. He immediately started writing a text to Dwalin.

After a few minutes Thorin became curious what Bilbo was doing on his phone so he decided to check. “No, you can’t do that,” he said before he took his phone away from him. Bilbo pouted before looking Thorin in the eyes. “ _Dwalin, please come visit me when you have some time. –Thorin,_ ” read Thorin. “He won’t come if you send him something like this, because he knows me and he would never believe I would write this.” Thorin quickly wrote a new text and send it before giving the phone back to Bilbo.

_I need you. Come ASAP. –T_

Bilbo had to admit that this sounded more like Thorin. He nodded to Kíli who quickly sent a text to Ori from Dori’s phone.

:::

Dwalin was the first one to arrive. It took him less than a few minutes to come. He had a feeling he was walking into a trap but he decided to come anyway. He was hoping that Ori would be there so that he could try to apologize to him, but he was disappointed because Ori wasn’t there. Bilbo immediately moved from Thorin so that Dwalin could sit next to his friend. So far the plan was going great. All they needed to do now was wait for Ori to show up and then everything would be back to normal.

As expected it took Ori a little longer to arrive, and for a moment Kíli worried that he won’t even come, so he was very happy when he heard him enter. Ori smiled nervously when he greeted everyone in the room, and he froze when he saw Dwalin sitting there. The last thing he wanted was to deal with him. Before he could find an excuse Fíli and Kíli stopped him and led him back to the living room. Now he was trapped and he would have to accept whatever they were planning.

Everyone was talking when Kíli suddenly stood up and pulled Bilbo with him in the center of the living room. “Can I have everyone’s attention?” Called Kíli and everyone stopped talking and looked at the pair. Thorin kept his eyes on Bilbo who was still holding Kíli’s hand. He wasn’t jealous, but he wasn’t happy about it either. “Thank you. We have something important to announce.”

“We do?” Asked Bilbo who had absolutely no idea what Kíli was preparing.

“Yes. I… We want to say something important to Dori.”

“Just tell me,” said Dori, who was expecting to hear something stupid from Thorin’s younger brother.

Kíli took a deep breath. “For the last year Dwalin has been dating Ori.”

Kíli immediately took a cautionary step back.

“What?” Roared Dori. He turned to Ori. “Is that true?! Tell me he is lying and that you are not that stupid.”

“Hey!” Interrupted Dwalin who stood up. “Don’t you ever again dare to call him stupid!”

“You stay out of this,” cut Dori sharply. “I will deal with you later, brute.”

“That’s my brother you are talking about,” interrupted Balin.

“He violated my brother!”

“I love him!” Interrupted Ori. “I will always love him. He didn’t force me to do anything I didn’t want to do. I agreed to have sex with him!”

Everyone went silent as Dori just stared at him with mouths open wide. “You!” He growled before wanting to attack Dwalin, but Ori immediately stepped in front of his _boyfriend_ as Nori tried pulling Dori back. “Let go of me!”

“You won’t hurt him,” said Ori with confidence. “I love him and if you hurt him you’ll hurt me!”

“He doesn’t deserve you!”

A few moments later there was chaos in the living room everyone was yelling at each other and it was hard to tell on whose side someone was at the moment.

“Enough!” Thorin’s voiced calmed everyone down immediately. “If they want to be together that’s their business. None of you have the right to oppose to it.”

Dwalin and Dori stared at each other for a minute before Dwalin stepped around Ori to talk to his brother. “Master Dori,” he started, “I ask you for permission to date your brother, if he forgives me of course,” he added as he looked back at Ori.

“No.”

“But…” protested Ori and Dori’s heart melted when he saw his little brother.

Dori sighed. “Fine… But if you hurt him you won’t get to see another day.”

The moment Dwalin turned around to ask Ori for forgiveness he had the younger teen’s arms around his neck pulling him down for a kiss.

“I’m going to kill you,” threatened Dwalin to Kíli after they pulled apart. “Maybe later,” he mumbled as Ori pulled him down for another kiss. Dori just collapsed back on the couch. He couldn’t protect his younger brother and now he lost him. It broke his heart when he saw Ori kissing Dwalin like that, but at the same time he was happy that his brother was happy.

“Okay, you can stop now,” said Kíli. “You made your point.” Ori just waved his hand at him without even breaking a kiss. Bilbo couldn’t help but to look at Thorin who offered him a smile. For a moment Bilbo wished he could strode to him and kiss him. But now was not the time.

Things got back to normal after that. The only one who was annoying was Daín and everyone wished he would just shut up. Ori was sitting in Dwalin’s lap, Fíli and Kíli were playing games on TV, Óin, Gloin, Balin and Thorin were having a conversation about who knows what,… Everyone was busy for the moment so Bilbo decided to slip in the kitchen to get a quick snack.

But of course someone had to follow him.

“Here we are again.”

Bilbo was expecting him so he took a deep breath before he turned around. “What do you want Daín?”

“Nothing. I just wanted to tell you that I didn’t like what your boyfriend did to me the last time we were here.”

“You deserved it,” pointed out Bilbo. “And he is not my boyfriend.”

“But you want him to be.” It was like Daín was reading his mind. Bilbo didn’t like that.

“It’s none of your business what I want.”

“But you do want him,” said Daín with that creepy smile on his face. “I know you do. Something changed between you two in the last two days. Something happened. I just know it. And now you think everything is better between you two. Think again. You are not that stupid. In how many relationships was Thorin before?” Bilbo just stared at him and didn’t answer. “Exactly. None. What makes you think you can change that.”  Daín left after that, leaving Bilbo to his thoughts.

“You okay?” Asked Bofur as he entered the kitchen.

“Yeah. Why?” Bilbo wanted to sound as undisturbed as possible.

“No reason.”

Bilbo saw right through his friend. “You heard what he just said. Don’t even try to deny it.”

“Yes,” admitted Bofur. “I heard what he said. But I’m not blind you know. I see the way you look at him. You never looked at anyone like this. You love him.”

“Isn’t that a really strong word?” Tried to argue Bilbo.

“I know something changed between you two. I was just hoping you would tell me about it. The last thing I want is to find out from someone else that you are dating him.”

“But I’m not dating him,” protested Bilbo.

“I don’t know what’s going on between you two, but I know that everyone noticed that you two act differently around each other. I’m not blind. I just hope that you know what you’re doing. The last thing I want to see is you getting hurt. Just be careful,” warned Bofur before he left.

:::

Bilbo didn’t understand why everyone was constantly warning him of Thorin. Thorin wasn’t flawless, but who was. Yes he made a few mistakes in the past, but now he was changing, or just showing his real self. Bilbo was hoping for the latter. He wanted to trust Thorin, be his friend, but it was really hard to ignore all the comments about him. A few months ago Bofur wouldn’t have anything bad to say about his friend, now it looked like he was his worst enemy. Bilbo really didn’t know what to make out of all this.

Luckily the guests didn’t stay long. Dwalin and Ori were the first ones to disappear. The next one was Daín who was going home and everyone couldn’t be happier about it. Then slowly one by one everyone left and the house was once again empty.

Bilbo wasn’t in the mood to stay up. He was tired and he had a lot on his mind so he decided to go to bed early. He changed and climbed under the covers, but the sleep refused to come so he decided to read a book to get his mind off Thorin, even if just for a couple of minutes. It didn’t take long before a knock on his door brought him back to reality.

“I just wanted to say Goodnight,” said Thorin and offered Bilbo a smile.

“Goodnight,” said Bilbo before trying to focus back on the book.

Thorin stared at him for a minute before he closed the door and sat down on the edge of Bilbo’s bed. “Okay, what’s wrong?” He asked as Bilbo sighed.

“Nothing’s wrong,” said Bilbo.

Thorin pulled the book out of his hands to get his attention. “Something is bothering you. If you tell me what it is maybe I can help you.”

“It’s nothing,” repeated Bilbo and reached for his book that Thorin now put out of his reach. Bilbo sighed in defeat before looking Thorin in the eyes.

“It’s about me.” It was more a statement than a question. “Someone said something about me and now you can’t stop thinking about it.”

Bilbo bit his lower lip. Sometimes was Thorin really good at deductions. “They didn’t tell me anything I didn’t know before…”

“But?”

“What but?”

“There’s always a but.”

“It’s nothing,” tried lying Bilbo once again, but the look in Thorin’s eyes told him he won’t go away that easily. “You were never in a relationship,” said Bilbo slowly.

“Neither were you,” pointed Thorin out.

“It’s different.”

“How?”

“I wasn’t whoring around for the last five years of my life!” Bilbo immediately covered his mouth after he spoke those words. “I’m sorry Thorin. I didn’t mean it like that.”

“Unfortunately you did,” said Thorin as calmly as he could, trying to hide his hurt.

“I’m sorry…”

“It’s okay. I get it. You care about what other people think. I don’t. When people start rumors I don’t try to stop them because I don’t care what they think about me. You do care, that’s why you’ll never give me a chance to be with you.”

“It’s not about that,” argued Bilbo. “It’s just… Just… I don’t want to get hurt,” he explained. “I have a feeling like I’m gambling with my happiness when I’m with you and I’m not sure I’m willing to bet everything when there’s a big chance I will lose in the end.”

“How do you know you’ll lose everything? You don’t even know me,” pointed out Thorin.

“Exactly. I don’t even know you. I want to get to know you, I really do. Is just… I don’t want to be a toy that you’ll throw away when you’ll get bored. I want to be with you, but I want the whole package. I want everything.”

“I want it too,” admitted Thorin. “How about we start from the beginning?”

“Okay,” nodded Bilbo.

“Ground rules?”

“No kissing, no inappropriate touching, no sitting together, no –“

“You do know we need to get to know each other right? That would require from us to be in the same room,” teased Thorin. “Go easy with your rules.”

“Fine. The point is to get to know each other better before we start anything. If we start anything,” he added.

“Alright,” agreed Thorin. “I’ll see you tomorrow then.” He was ready to get up, but Bilbo pulled him back.

“Don’t go…” he pleaded.

“What…?”

“Stay here,” offered Bilbo and moved on the bed a little to make some room for Thorin under the covers.

“What about your rules?” Asked Thorin.

“We can start tomorrow,” answered Bilbo and waited for Thorin to make himself comfortable on the bed, before resting his head on Thorin’s chest.

“Comfortable?” Asked Thorin and pulled Bilbo closer to him. The younger teen only nodded before closing his eyes. It didn’t take them long to fall asleep.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Let's say that Bilbo is now 20 weeks pregnant so that things can finally start progressing.


	21. Chapter 21

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine

_**"Just give me the night..."** _

It was Thorin who woke up first the very next morning. The sleeping part itself wasn’t anything special, but waking up was something completely different. For the first time in his life waking up next to somebody didn’t feel wrong. On the contrary, it felt right. Waking up and seeing Bilbo still peacefully sleeping, snuggled close to him was the best way to wake up in the morning. The younger teen looked so happy Thorin wanted to stop breathing so that his movement would wake him up. Bilbo was still resting his head on his chest, one arm wrapped around him, holding him close. Thorin had one arm around Bilbo, while he used the other one to brush a stray of hair from his face and put it behind his ear. Bilbo had such a beautiful, curly, golden hair and was the most beautiful thing Thorin has ever seen.

One thing that Thorin also noticed that Bilbo’s belly was pressing into him. It wasn’t really big for someone who was twenty weeks pregnant, but it still looked very nice and Thorin was fighting the urge to touch it. Lately Bilbo had no problem with him touching his belly, but now they were in bed together and Thorin wasn’t sure how Bilbo would react if he would wake up. Still, Thorin couldn’t help himself but to place his hand on Bilbo’s swollen abdomen and gently rub circles over the stretched skin. He didn’t dare to go under Bilbo’s shirt, but he was happy with what he got. It was the most amazing thing to know that something delicate and precious was growing inside the belly.

Thorin was so focused on Bilbo’s belly he didn’t even hear him wake up until Bilbo mumbled something. “What was that?” Asked Thorin who didn’t understand what has Bilbo just said.

Bilbo looked up. “You have to stop doing that,” he now explained more clearly before resting his head back on Thorin’s chest.

“Why?”

“Because you are waking the baby up. I can’t sleep.”

Thorin smiled. “So you can feel it move? I can’t feel anything.”

“I’ve been able to feel it for weeks now but until a few days ago I had no idea what it was. For a strange reason your presence always makes it move even more and it’s disturbing because I can’t sleep.”

Thorin chuckled silently before placing a kiss on Bilbo’s head. “So how does it feel?”

“What?” mumbled Bilbo.

“How does it feel when it’s moving?” asked Thorin more clearly.

Bilbo was silent for a few seconds before he spoke. “It’s like tingling… Or butterflies, but not the same ones you feel when you kiss someone. It’s different; I don’t know how to describe it.”

“Do you think others will be able to feel it soon?”

“The doctor said you’ll have to wait a little longer.” Bilbo relaxed as Thorin continued running his hand over his belly. Bilbo couldn’t help but to feel very happy while Thorin paid so much attention to his belly. He was gentle and caring and Bilbo wanted him for never to stop. “What time it is?”

Thorin turned around to look at the clock. “Seven thirty.”

“I want to sleep some more,” protested Bilbo. “I don’t want to get up. Not yet.”

“You can stay in bed a little longer if you wish, no one will say anything.”

“Will you stay here with me?” asked Bilbo and looked Thorin in the eyes with that pleading innocent look.

“What about your rules?” asked Thorin. “You said that today we must follow your rules.”

Bilbo thought about it for a moment. “The day doesn’t start until we get out of the bed. So until we get up we don’t need to follow them.” Bilbo moved up a little and pressed a quick kiss to Thorin’s lips.

“My parents are coming home today,” reminded him Thorin. “Did you forget about that? We can’t stay in bed all day. What will they think? And besides, I want to get to know you. The sooner we start getting to know each other better, the faster we can decide what we want to do.”

Bilbo pouted and looked Thorin in the eyes from where he was resting on him. “Why does everything have to be so complicated?”

“Because you like to complicate things,” teased Thorin.

“I suddenly regret making my rules. They are boring,” declared Bilbo.

“I think it’s the right thing to do,” concluded Thorin. “We need to get to know each other before we start anything. If we start anything.”

Bilbo stared at him for a few more minutes, absentmindedly tracing his fingers up and down Thorin’s jaw. “You need to shave. It scratches.”

Thorin couldn’t help but laugh at Bilbo’s words. “I was thinking about leaving it to grow. You know, have a long beard and braid it and stuff.

Bilbo shook his head. “You look nice with a beard, but a short one. I can’t picture you with a long beard.”

“The one I could tuck into my belt?” teased Thorin and Bilbo smiled.

“Like I said, you look nice now. I can’t imagine you being any different.”

“Was that a compliment?” questioned Thorin playfully. “Did I just hear you say that I look nice?” Bilbo felt blush spreading to the tip of his ears.  “ _You look nice._ ”

“It was a compliment. Happy?” asked Bilbo as he lifted himself up so that he wasn’t lying on Thorin anymore. “No need to get all excited about it. There are other things that-“

“Really?” interrupted Thorin. “What else do you think of me?”

Bilbo just buried his face in Thorin’s chest. He could hear and feel him laughing because every time Thorin spoke in his deep voice caused Bilbo to shiver. So what did he think of Thorin? Or better said what did he think about him and was able to tell him about it without blushing or feeling embarrassed. So Bilbo did the only thing he could to get out of the situation he got himself into. “You need to leave,” he said and tried to push Thorin out of his bed.

Thorin just looked at him disbelievingly. Luckily he was heavy so Bilbo couldn’t get him off the bed so easily. “Wait! Why?”

“Because you were right. Your parents are coming home today and it would be wrong if they found us like this. I’m not even sure they would allow it,” reasoned Bilbo.

Thorin held Bilbo’s hands so that the younger teen finally stopped pushing him away. “They won’t be coming home until lunch so I don’t see why they would see us together. And besides, I don’t think my parents would mind if they would find us in the same bed. They should be happy we are finally getting along.” Bilbo ignored Thorin and once again tried to get rid of him. “Stop it,” warned Thorin, but because Bilbo didn’t stop Thorin pushed him on his back, pinning him on the mattress. He was now hovering over him, staring into his eyes. “Stop it,” he repeated more calmly this time.

Bilbo finally stopped, after realizing there was no way he could escape. Thorin held his hands in a strong, but not too strong, grip, pushing them into the pillows. “My parents would actually mind if they would know that we were sleeping together.”

“We were _sleeping_ ,” reminded him Thorin. “Nothing happened.”

“And nothing ever will,” said Bilbo and Thorin in his shock released his hold on him and Bilbo easily pushed him off of him. “Thank you,” he said after he got out of the bed.

Thorin didn’t move. He leaned back on the headboard and looked at Bilbo. “So that’s how it’s going to be?” he question as Bilbo was about to enter the bathroom.

Bilbo stopped and turned around, looking at Thorin. “Excuse me?”

“Every time you won’t like something you’ll just threaten to dump me?” Bilbo just stared at Thorin not knowing what to say. He didn’t mean it _like_ that, but he liked having control. Whenever Thorin was around him he stopped thinking straight and the only way to assure that he won’t do something stupid again was to show Thorin his place every time he got too close. So far this has been working great. He managed to keep Thorin at a distance, but he was losing his battles. He liked having Thorin near him, and after what has happened he was absolutely terrified about allowing him close to his heart again. “Never mind, forget I said anything.”

Before Bilbo could say anything Thorin was out of the bed and out of his room, slamming the doors behind him with such a force that Bilbo jumped. “Thorin wait!”

:::

When Fíli woke up the next morning he wasn’t alone in bed, which was strange because he was more than sure that he went to bed alone. He wasn’t drunk the previous night so he remembered everything. So a warm body pressing into his back and an arm over his side pulling him close was surely a surprise. He somehow managed to get out of the strong embrace and he turned around to see who decided to sleep in his bed.

“Kíli!” Fíli said louder than needed but his brother only stirred a little before snuggling back into the pillows. His mouth was slightly opened and he was drooling on his brother’s pillow. “Kíli!” called Fíli once again and shook him a little. Kíli only made a noise, indicating that he was awake but he didn’t move. “What are you doing in my bed?”

“… My bed,” mumbled Kíli back.

“No, this is my bed. And since you have your own I really don’t understand why you are here.”

“Sleep.”

Fíli was able to smell alcohol on his brother. “How much did you drink last night?”

Kíli groaned before rolling on his back. Even though it was dark in the room he still didn’t want to open his eyes. “A lot… I was celebrating.”

“Care to explain exactly what you were celebrating?”

But before Kíli could answer the heard the doors shut and that immediately caught their attention. They waited in silence a couple of seconds before they heard Bilbo. _“Thorin wait!”_

“Not again,” groaned Kíli before getting out of the bed and out of the room to see what was happening between Thorin and Bilbo.

“Thorin wait. I didn’t mean it like that,” called Bilbo as he ran after Thorin. “Thorin please.” After hearing Bilbo’s plea and knowing that he was probably on the verge of crying, Thorin finally stopped. “I’m sorry,” said Bilbo who now could hold back his tears anymore.

“What’s going on?” asked Kíli when he saw them standing in the hallway. They were staring at each other and Bilbo was crying silently. “Hey, tell me what happened,” said Kíli and pulled Bilbo into a hug. Thorin couldn’t help but to feel jealous. He was supposed to be hugging Bilbo, helping him to calm down.

“What’s going on?” asked Fíli as he finally joined them. He took in the sight. “Don’t tell me you two were fighting so early in the morning.”

“They slept together,” simply explained Kíli and Fíli’s eyes widened. “Just slept,” he quickly explained. “Nothing happened. Right?” he asked and looked at Thorin and then at Bilbo who shook his head. Kíli wiped the tears from Bilbo’s face. “Calm down. Everything is going to be alright, you’ll see. Will you tell me what happened?”

This time it was Thorin who spoke. “I need to talk with Bilbo,” he said before he took Bilbo’s hand and led him back to his bedroom. Once the doors behind them closed Bilbo couldn’t help but to start crying again for no reason.”It’s okay,” soothed Thorin and pulled him into a hug.

Bilbo returned the hug and pulled Thorin as close to himself as possible. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean it,” he said between sobs.

“It’s okay,” assured him Thorin and placed a kiss on the top of his head. “Please stop crying. There is really no need for all these tears.” He wiped the few remaining tears from Bilbo’s cheeks before looking him in the eyes. “Better?”

Bilbo only nodded. “I really didn’t mean it.”

“It’s okay. I understand.”

“No you don’t understand! It’s not that I don’t want you to be with me… I’m just scared.” Thorin remained silent and continued to look Bilbo in the eyes. “Every time we are together I forget about everything that happened and I just want to be with you. Whenever I’m near you I feel better. But at the same time I’m scared. Not of you, but of me. Because I’m prepared to forgive everything just to spend some time with you, and I’m not sure that’s right. I feel like we are rushing into this because we both enjoy it.”

Thorin took a deep breath before he took Bilbo’s hands in his. “Maybe we are rushing into this, but that doesn’t mean that this is wrong.”

“It’s not,” quietly said Bilbo. “This feels right.”

“Then we shall take this slow. Maybe it was my fault. I should have said no to your request yesterday. This is a big change for both of us and we already have so many unresolved things between us… Let’s take it slow and start by being friends.”

“But I can’t be your friend.” Thorin frowned at Bilbo’s answer. “You ask too much from me. How can I be _just_ your friend when I want more?”

Thorin smirked. “You’ll just have to learn to be patient. All good things come to those who wait.”

“I’m not really a patient person.”

“Oh I know. Oh how I know that.”

Bilbo just rolled his eyes. “No kissing then?” he asked sheepishly and Thorin shook his head. “No more sleeping in my bed?” Thorin shook his head again. “Then what I’m supposed to do with you?”

“Get to know me better and I’ll do the same. We will do what friends do.” Bilbo wanted to speak but Thorin was faster. “And the answer to your question is no. Friends don’t kiss. At least not the way you want to. I like my rules more than I liked yours.”

“You sure you won’t miss me too much?”

“I’ll survive. Besides, it’s for the best. Just look what happened this morning. We have nuclear capability when we go against each other.”

“Fine,” sighed Bilbo and let go of Thorin’s hands. “I guess I’ll see you later.”

“Of course.” Thorin placed a kiss on Bilbo’s forehead before he headed for the doors. “Just one more thing. You snore while you sleep,” he said teasingly before he disappeared.

“Thorin!”

:::

As expected Thráin and Valla returned just before lunch. No one knew where they were and no one cared enough to ask. Even though Fíli and Kíli were a little worried what will happen when once again Thorin and Thráin will be in the same room, Bilbo knew better. He knew that Thorin was in a very good mood and he doubted that he would want to get in a fight with his father. And luckily he was right. Thorin ignored his father completely and keep his eyes on Bilbo.

At first Bilbo was a little embarrassed and he couldn’t help but to blush every time he noticed Thorin looking at him with that gorgeous smile on his face. Bilbo returned the smile but quickly turned his focus back to the food in front of him and he hoped no one would notice. Of course he was wrong. Even thought Kíli was still nursing his headache and wasn’t feeling good he couldn’t help but to tease them both. ‘Thorin can you please pass the potatoes to Bilbo. Bilbo can you ask Thorin to pass the sauce.’ And so it went on the entire lunch and Bilbo and Thorin couldn’t do anything about Kíli’s teasing.

After lunch Bilbo stayed and helped to clean the table and surprisingly Valla stayed too. Apparently she wanted to talk with him. “How are you feeling, Bilbo?”

Bilbo stopped for a second and looked at her. “I’m fine,” he answered rather unsure.

“So you like it here?” Bilbo just shrugged before he continued to collect the plates. “And the baby? How is the baby doing? Did you already feel it move?” Bilbo nodded. “Oh that must have been something special for you.”

“It’s a nice feeling,” confirmed Bilbo.

“I noticed you get very well along with Kíli. You two have become great friends since you started living with us. Am I right?”

“He accepted me really quickly and he is nice to me. It’s nice not to be so alone all the time,” confirmed Bilbo.

“And how about you and Thorin? How are you two getting along? I hope he isn’t being too hard on you.”

Bilbo swallowed before answering. He really didn’t understand Valla’s sudden interest in everything that was happening to him. “Things between me and Thorin are… They are slowly getting better.”

“And you two were together when… When you were together,” she asked carefully.

Bilbo just couldn’t say to her that he was Thorin’s one night stand so he answered the only way he could without revealing anything important. “No.”

Valla remained silent for a few minutes before she spoke again. “I’m having one of the rooms on the upper floor redesigned into a nursery,” she said slowly because she didn’t want to put Bilbo in an uncomfortable situation. “I have hired one of the best internal designers that will create a perfect room for your baby. I just wanted to ask you if you would want to add in some of your ideas. I know this might not be easy for you but I think it’s the right thing to ask you as well.”

Bilbo swallowed hard before automatically nodding. He didn’t expect anything like that. He just thought he was giving up his baby and that was it. Giving ideas for the room that _his_ baby will sleep in just wasn’t what he expected to do. This will make things even harder for him but he wasn’t going to miss the opportunity to be a least present in his baby’s life, even if just through some wallpapers and toys. He would take everything that would be offered to him. After all, he got only twenty weeks left.

“Great,” smiled Valla. “I’ll inform you before the designer comes so you’ll have some ideas prepared. I also wanted to go shopping for some baby clothes and toys. I’m so excited about everything. Though I’m not sure if you will want to find out the sex of the baby. This is your decision, but it would be nice to know what colors we buy. But don’t worry about it, we can buy everything…”

Bilbo stopped listening to her somewhere in the middle. Why did it matter what color the baby would be wearing. That was the last thing on Bilbo’s mind. He would never get to see it anyway. What mattered were these precious twenty weeks he had left. He would just have to make the best of them before a part of his heart would be ripped from him, and he wasn’t talking just about the baby.


	22. Chapter 22

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine.

Things progressed, at least in Bilbo's opinion, at torturously slow pace. He and Thorin got to spend some time together, mainly in the living room where no one was tempted to do anything, but it just wasn’t enough. Bilbo wanted more. He always wanted more from Thorin. If someone would tell him that he couldn’t go to sleep until Thorin came to wish him Goodnight, he would have laughed at the idea. But now… Now this was something that has happened every night for two weeks.

It was nice spending time with Thorin but the problem was that there was no actual ‘I want to get to know you better’ involved if you understand what I’m trying to say here. Sure, they were in the same room and twenty questions game was played every time, but their conversation usually ended there. Bilbo did his homework and did some studying while Thorin read a book or played with his laptop. There was a roadblock. They both knew it, but they still decided to ignore it. Why ruin the good we already have for the evil that may become.

That day Thorin finished early his school work and decided to find Bilbo. He hasn’t seen him since breakfast and he was beginning to wonder where he had disappeared. Bilbo did an amazing job at avoiding him at school, whether he did it on purpose or not, Thorin didn’t know, but he was looking forward to spend some time with him. Maybe they will actually talk this time and not just be polite with each other. Even though part of the agreement was ‘get to know me better’ they were both rather clumsy when it came to those things.

Surprisingly Thorin didn’t find Bilbo in his room when he went looking for him so he decided to check with the person who will definitely know where Bilbo is. “Do you know where Bilbo is?” Thorin asked as he entered Kíli’s room.

“You mean he is not here?” Kíli asked and Thorin could sense worry in his tone. “Is he not here?”

Thorin’s eyes widened. Bilbo was gone and no one knew where he was. This could end up badly; He reached for his phone to call Bilbo, just to make sure he was alright when he heard Kíli laughing.

“You should see your face! Priceless!” Kíli laughed as Thorin narrowed his eyes at him. “Don’t worry your boyfriend is perfectly safe.”

Thorin let out a sigh of relief. “Don’t ever joke about things like that ever again,” he ordered sharply.

“It’s not my problem you don’t have a GPS on your boyfriend,” continued to tease Kíli.

“He is not my boyfriend,” corrected Thorin and Kíli just shrugged. He had no idea in what kind of relationship his brother and his pregnant friend were. “And I don’t need to have a GPS on him. He is perfectly capable of telling me where he is.”

“Then why are you asking me?” asked Kíli, just to annoy Thorin a little more.

“Argh…” groaned Thorin. “Will you just tell me where he is or not?”

“He went out with Fíli and Bofur,” simply explained Kíli and he could swear that he saw Thorin’s jaw drop.

“Fíli and Bofur?” Thorin asked after he got his thoughts back. He didn’t expect something like that from Bilbo, especially when they both knew Bofur had a huge crush on him. “What is he doing with _him_?”

“Well,” started Kíli, “He had that birthing class today and he promised Fíli he could go with him the next time. And then Bofur was there… And you know they are still friends and everything so he asked him to come too. It’s fun to go. You get to do all the things that you would have to do with a real baby and Bilbo is really enjoying himself when he is there. And having Fíli and Bofur there should make things even better.”

Thorin just nodded at the information Kíli has just given him before he left the room. The thing was that Bilbo didn’t even mention having birthing class, nor he did mention taking Bofur with him. He didn’t say anything to tell the truth. And he invited Bofur! That surely made Thorin’s blood boil. So far Bilbo hasn’t said a thing about the baby to Thorin, but apparently he shared everything with Bofur. How were they supposed to start a relationship when there were so many unresolved things between them?

:::

As expected Bilbo did have fun with Fíli and Bofur. They were nice company and he decided to invite Bofur with him the next time he would have this class. Even though Thorin now occupied most of his thoughts he still missed his friend. He missed talking to Bofur, telling him about his problems or just discuss things in general. It was hard being around him now that he knew he was in love with him, but Bofur has proved himself a real friend when he accepted the invitation and went with him to the birthing class.

When they were done Fíli and Bilbo escorted Bofur home before returning to the mansion. Bilbo was rather excited to see Thorin again. He didn’t see him all day and he was hoping that Thorin was in the mood to listen because he wanted to tell him everything that has happened to him during the day.

He entered the house with Fíli, still laughing about a comment Fíli made during the class. “Thank you for coming with me today,” said Bilbo.

“It was my pleasure. Can’t wait until the next time,” answered Fíli before he motioned Bilbo to the living room where Thorin was sitting on the couch with his laptop.

“I’ll see you tomorrow.” Fíli just smiled as he watched Bilbo almost run to his brother.

“Evening,” greeted Bilbo as he slumped on the couch next to Thorin making sure to distract him so that Thorin would pay attention to him. “What are you doing?” Bilbo asked and tried to look but Thorin turned the screen away. “Hey!” he protested.

“I’m busy,” explained Thorin sharply.

“Don’t be so grumpy, Thorin,” scolded Bilbo. “You are ruining the mood.”

“Mhmmm,” was the only response Bilbo got from him.

“Hey, tell me what’s wrong,” encouraged Bilbo and tried to close Thorin’s computer.

“I told you I’m busy. I don’t have time.”

“Not even for me?” pouted Bilbo.

Thorin sighed before he closed his laptop and turned to Bilbo. “Enlighten me…”

Bilbo smiled happily before he started explaining. “Well, I had my birthing class today and it was so funny because Bofur-“

“I really don’t care,” said Thorin sharply and stood up to leave.

“Where are you going?” called Bilbo before he went after him. “Thorin?”

“I’m going out.”

“And I’m going with you,” decided Bilbo.

“No you are not,” cut Thorin sharply. “I didn’t ask you to come.”

“So I’m not allowed to go with you?”

“No you are not,” answered Thorin before he left. Bilbo stared after him for a minute before angrily storming back to his room. Thorin had no right to treat him this way.

:::

The next morning Thorin couldn’t believe his eyes when he found Bilbo with his brothers waiting for him in the kitchen. “Why are you here? Don’t you have better company to go to school with?”

“I decide to go with you,” answered Bilbo and tried really hard to ignore Thorin’s venomous tone. “Or is that a problem?”

“No, why would it be a problem? I just though we are not good enough for you, and that you prefer the company of others.”

“Enough you two,” interrupted Fíli. “We get it. You are angry at each other and now you are having some subtext conversation to deal with that. Just kiss already so that we can move on…”

“It wasn’t my fault,” they both said at the same time and looked at each other confused.

“Can we please go?” asked Kíli who wasn’t in the mood to deal with Thorin and Bilbo’s relationship so early in the morning. He would help them later. Thorin just nodded and everyone followed him in complete silence to the car.

As expected, Thorin and Bilbo did their best to ignore each other even though they were sitting together. The moment the car stopped in the parking lot in front of school, Fíli and Kíli disappeared, leaving Thorin and Bilbo alone for a few minutes.

“Listen,” started Thorin calmly.

“No, you listen to me,” ordered Bilbo. “You have no right to treat me this way. I did nothing wrong! You and your mood swings. Find me when Thorin I like comes back.” Before Thorin could open his mouth to say something, Bilbo was already out of the car walking toward Bofur who was patiently waiting for him in front of school. Great, thought Thorin. With his behavior he managed to the thing he feared the most. He pushed Bilbo into Bofur’s loving and waiting arms.

:::

When Kíli got back from school that day he realized that things between Bilbo and his brother didn’t get any better. In fact, they only got worse. Bilbo was locked in his room, ignoring everything and everyone and Thorin was doing pretty much the same.

“Fíli, I need your help,” started Kíli.

“If it has anything to do with Bilbo and Thorin I’m telling you in advance that I’m not helping you. Whatever is wrong between them it’s their problem, not ours. If they want to start a relationship I think it’s better they find a way to resolve their problems on their own. We can’t be there for them all the time.”

“But-“ wanted to protest Kíli.

“Just leave them alone. They will find a way to resolve their problems.”

“You and I both know that’s not true,” argued Kíli. “They are both too stubborn to even talk with each other, let alone discuss what happened.”

“I’m not sorting this out for them,” stated Fíli firmly.

“You don’t have to. Just help me find out what went wrong.”

“Fine,” sighed Fíli. “Where do we begin?”

“Can you remember when the last time you saw them happy together was?”

Fíli thought about it for a second. “I spoke with Thorin in the morning and everything seemed fine. Then I didn’t see him for the rest of the day because I was with Bilbo and I can assure you that he was happy when we returned from the class.”

“I saw them both in the morning and then Thorin came to see and asked me about Bilbo.”

“Was he happy or sad…”

“He seemed fine to me.” Kíli thought about it for a second. “But then again… He did ask about Bilbo. But I don’t think he would get so angry just because I decided to tease him a little.”

“What did you say to him?”

“Nothing in particular. He asked me about Bilbo and I told him that his boyfriend is with you and Bofur and then he left.”

Fíli just shook his head. Kíli really didn’t know what he did wrong. “And you haven’t thought about the fact that Thorin might be angry because Bilbo invited Bofur with us. Think about for a moment. They decided they want to be friends or whatever but neither of them does anything about it. Sure they spend time together, but when it comes to things that really matter they both decide to ignore it.”

“So what you are trying to say that Thorin is jealous of Bofur?”

“I was thinking more like disappointed that Bilbo didn’t tell him about the class or invited him to come.”

“He would never have come,” argued Kíli.

“True, but he didn’t even get the chance to say no. And to tell the truth I think that Thorin would want to go, just so that he could spend some time with Bilbo.”

Kíli had to admit that his brother did have a point. Bilbo most likely didn’t want to say anything to Thorin because he was afraid of the rejection, and Thorin was probably hurt that Bilbo didn’t want him there. They really had no idea how to deal with these sorts of things. He could talk with his brother about it. Explain to Thorin that Bilbo had no idea that this would hurt him but that would make things even more awkward because Thorin then wouldn’t know what to do. There was only one option left. He needed to talk with Bilbo.

He knew that Bilbo would be upset about everything but he never even thought that he would find him quietly sobbing into the pillow. “Hey, what’s wrong?” he immediately asked as he sat down on the bed next to him. “Is this about the fight you had with my brother?”

“He is angry at me and I don’t even know what I did wrong,” silently explained Bilbo. “He is so angry at me that he didn’t even come to say Goodnight.”

Kíli was unsure how to proceed. Dealing with a sad person was one thing; dealing with emotional Bilbo was something completely different. “He’s not mad at you.”

“You know he is. I just can’t do this anymore. I don’t think I can ride this emotional roller coaster anymore.” You and me both, thought Kíli. “It feels that we’ll never get on the same page. We are too different.”

“But you love my brother,” commented Kíli. “I know you do. And you just had a disagreement. All the couples do. Please stop crying,” said Kíli as he gently rubbed Bilbo’s arm.

“I just want to apologize, but I don’t know for what,” continued to cry Bilbo. “He hates me now.”

“No,” quickly said Kíli. “He doesn’t hate you. To tell the truth I don’t think he could ever hate you. I think he is just a little sad because you didn’t ask him to go with you to that class.” Kíli purposely left out the part where he told Thorin about the class and the fact that Bilbo invited Bofur.

“But he would never want to come.”

“True, but that doesn’t mean he isn’t upset about it.”

Bilbo finally looked Kíli in the eyes. “How do I fix this?”

“You could ask Thorin to go somewhere else with you,” offered Kíli. “If he says no, then he has absolutely no reason to be upset. If he says yes, then you’ll have some company. Isn’t that great?” Bilbo just nodded before pulling the pillow closer. “I’m happy that you have calmed down,” added Kíli before wishing him Goodnight and leaving the room.

As luck would have it he met Thorin on his way back to his room. “Bilbo wants to talk with you,” was all that he said to his older brother before he disappeared into his room.

Thorin just sighed. He wanted to talk with Bilbo but he didn’t want to argue with him. They have had enough arguments as it is. On the other hand avoiding Bilbo won’t solve their problem so Thorin did the only thing he could. He went to talk with Bilbo.

He knocked gently on the door before quietly entering his bedroom. “You asleep?”

“No,” came the reply.

Thorin closed the door before slowly approaching the bed. “Kíli said you wanted to talk with me,” he explained. Bilbo didn’t answer his question he just looked him in the eyes and Thorin immediately knew why Kíli said to go talk with him. Bilbo has been crying, that much was obvious. “I- I just wanted to apologize for my behavior last night,” started Thorin. “I don’t know what came over me.”

“I forgive you,” said Bilbo who didn’t tear his eyes away from Thorin. “And I’m sorry for not telling you about my class.”

“No, you had every right not to tell me. After all, it’s your choice who you want to take with you.”

Bilbo understood what Thorin was implying but he decided to ignore it. The last thing they both needed was another argument about Bofur. “I was meaning to ask you if… If you would like to go to my next appointment with me?” Bilbo bit his lower lip as he waited for Thorin to reply.

“I would love to.” He smiled before placing a kiss on Bilbo’s forehead. The younger teen then moved away a little making some space for Thorin to join him on the bed. And Thorin did accept Bilbo’s invitation to his bed by making himself comfortable under the covers. The only problem was that Bilbo couldn’t find a comfortable position and he kept tossing around for a few minutes, trying to snuggle closer to Thorin. “I’m sorry my sweet but you’ll have to choose. Me or the pregnancy pillow.” Bilbo tried to find a comfortable position once again before allowing Thorin to toss the pillow on the floor.

“Stop laughing,” Bilbo ordered as Thorin continued to chuckle after Bilbo was snuggled close to him. “It’s not funny.”

“Of course it was funny,” argued Thorin. “Your determination to sleep with that pillow is amazing.”

“I like that pillow. It’s comfortable to sleep with.”

“You can always get it back and I can leave…” continued to tease Thorin, so that Bilbo would try to pull him closer.

“No. You are staying right where you belong.”

“And where is that exactly?”

“Next to me,” smiled Bilbo before he snuggled into Thorin’s warmth and dozed off.

:::

Much to everyone’s amazement Thorin and Bilbo didn’t have another fight. They were still getting through ‘I’m getting to know you better’ faze and everyone was starting to lose patience about it, especially Fíli who absolutely hated when Bilbo was texting with Thorin, who was in the next room by the way, while he was supposed to be helping him with history. It looked like they were once again stuck at one point of their relationship and that they didn’t know how to proceed. That was the general opinion.

Bilbo on the other hand was quite enjoying this slow pace for a change. He realized that the more time he spent with Thorin the more he knew about him. There were simple things that Bilbo found in Thorin’s behavior that were like key points about Thorin’s current mood. The way he closed the door or threw his car key on the table told Bilbo a lot. He didn’t need Thorin telling him he had a bad day, Bilbo just knew that and in time like that he left him alone until he calmed down so that they were able to talk. One could say that in a few short weeks Bilbo Baggins has become quite an expert on Thorin’s behavior.

“Ready?” asked Thorin as he walked into Bilbo’s room. The younger boy just finished dressing up because they were supposed to go to the appointment together. Bilbo just nodded before he went to hug Thorin. Another habit he started doing in the last few weeks. “Are you warm enough?”

“I have two shirts on me and a jacket. I think that’s enough.”

“I just don’t want you to be cold.”

“I have you. You’ll keep me warm.”

Thorin just smiled before he took his hand and led him down to his car. The ride there was short and uneventful but Thorin could sense Bilbo was in a good mood. The truth was that Bilbo was really happy that he got some company and the fact that this company was Thorin himself made everything even better. When they arrived Thorin parked the car and then they headed inside.

The moment they entered the waiting room seven pairs of eyes looked in their direction. Never before has Thorin felt so exposed and judged. “They are staring at us,” he commented quietly as he helped Bilbo with his jacket.

“Of course they are. What did you expect?” Thorin took his jacket and once again looked around. At least now they were pretending not to stare at them. “Thank you,” said Bilbo and led Thorin to two empty chairs.

“What in the world is so interesting that they keep staring at us?” asked Thorin as he once again caught one of the women looking at him.

Bilbo rolled his eyes before answering quietly. “Where do I start? First: I’m pregnant. Second: I’m a teen. Third: I came to my appointment with another teen, holding his hand. Fourth: we are both male. Do you want me to continue or did you get the point?”

“I got the point, thank you. I just don’t get it why they feel the right to judge. Half of them are not even married. Take a look. No rings,” pointed out Thorin.

“Just because they don’t have a ring that doesn’t mean they don’t have a partner,” reasoned Bilbo. “Besides, I think most of them are not judging me but my parents and the way they raised me. I can almost hear their thoughts. _What kind of parents does he have? Don’t they have any morals? Haven’t they taught him anything?_ It’s pointless anyway. Just try not to think about it.” Thorin didn’t have much of a choice but to accept Bilbo’s hand and then wait for them to be called in. They had to wait almost an hour before Bilbo was called in, pulling Thorin with him.

“Hello,” the nurse greeted. “You brought some company today I see.”

“That’s not a problem, is it?”

“Of course not,” smiled the nurse. “It’s nice that you are not alone. How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine,” answered Bilbo and followed the nurse. He knew what was about to follow. Weight, blood pressure and a few pointless questions.

“Please step on,” said the nurse and Bilbo obliged.

But Thorin was curious as well and he tried to see the number on the display but Bilbo quickly covered it with his hand. “No, you don’t get to see it.”

“Oh come on…,” sighed Thorin and rolled his eyes. “It’s not a big deal. You are pregnant, it’s normal for you to gain weight.” Even though Thorin had  a good argument Bilbo still refused to move his hand so Thorin backed away to give Bilbo some privacy until they were led to the doctor’s office. Luckily they didn’t have to wait long for the doctor.

“Hello Bilbo… And Thorin,” she added when she saw him. “This is a pleasant surprise, seeing you both here.” Thorin just stared at her, not knowing what to say to her comment. “Don’t look at me like that, Thorin,” she smiled, “I’m happy that you are both here. Shall we get to the business?” Bilbo nodded in response.

“Everything looks normal,” Arwen said after she quickly scanned the file with her eyes. “Let’s take a look, shall we?”

Bilbo as always lied down on the table and lifted his shirt up. The skin on his belly had a few stretch marks, a reminder that the baby was constantly growing. Thorin sat down next to him and took hold of his hand as they waited for Arwen to prepare the machine.

“Have you already felt it move, Thorin?” she asked.

“Hmm, no… Was I supposed to already feel it?”

“I would say that you’ll be able to feel it any day now.”

“The movement I’ve been feeling has been slowly intensifying,” said Bilbo as Arwen put a generous amount of gel on his stomach.

“You can expect to start feeling kicks really soon. Then you’ll both be able to feel it.” She moved the probe over Bilbo’s belly checking a few things before she turned the screen toward Bilbo and Thorin to get a look. “Would you like to know the sex?”

Bilbo stared at the screen for a few seconds before he looked at Thorin. “It’s your decision,” Thorin told him and then Bilbo shook his head. “No, I don’t want to know.”

“Well then I’m just going to tell you that your baby is developing perfectly. It’s the right size and everything looks just normal.” She pressed a few buttons and turned the machine off before giving Thorin some paper towels to help Bilbo clean his stomach. “I’ll get you the picture. Please wait here, I still want to talk with you two about something.”

She left them alone for a second and Thorin gently cleaned Bilbo’s belly before helping him to sit back up. “What do you think she needs to talk with us?” Thorin asked and Bilbo shrugged.

“I have absolutely no idea. I just hope everything is alright.”

“Of course everything is alright,” said Thorin before kissing Bilbo’s forehead just when Arwen has returned.

“I had a feeling this you two are getting along better,” commented Arwen as she gave Bilbo the picture and then sat down in front of them, looking completely serious. “There is another thing a wanted to discuss with you two.” Bilbo swallowed hard, he was afraid of what she was about to say. “I don’t know in what kind of a relationship you two now are, nor do I care, but I think it’s the right thing to talk about having sex.” Bilbo’s ears turned red from the embarrassment at her words. “Now since you both have been sexually active before I’m not going to explain that you need to be gentle with your partner, but since you are pregnant Bilbo I wanted to remind you of that. I’m not saying you can’t have intercourse, because you can. As long as you are comfortable with it, it’s perfectly safe, just don’t put too much pressure on your belly. What I’m trying to say that don’t go into extremes. It’s perfectly normal to have intercourse during pregnancy, some would actually encourage it, but like I said before, not all positions are comfortable while there is a belly between the partners. If you do decide to have intercourse take it slow and everything will be fine.”

Thorin was surprisingly calm during Arwen’s speech. He was planning to ask her about it himself so in a way she saved him from asking. “Any questions?” Bilbo just shook his head. This was far worse than talking about sex with his father.

“Let’s say that it happens,” started Thorin slowly, unsure if he should ask the question as he felt Bilbo’s hold of his hand tightened. “I can’t really… you know… while I’m in… hit it or something?” Bilbo wanted to die from the embarrassment.

“No, it’s perfectly safe,” assured him Arwen. “Any other questions? Bilbo?”

“Can we please go?”

Arwen tried really hard to suppress a chuckle. “You can go. I’ll see you in a few weeks.”

Bilbo didn’t hesitate saying goodbye and pulling Thorin out of the office. Once they were outside Thorin couldn’t help but laugh. “Come on, it wasn’t that bad.”

“She wanted to talk about sex!” exclaimed Bilbo, not really angry he just wanted to make a point.

“So?”

“It’s… It’s…”

“Perfectly normal,” finished Thorin. “Don’t tell me you never thought about it.” Bilbo refused to say anything. “I think she did the right thing. Now if we ever have sex this won’t be hanging in the air between us.”

Bilbo deliberately decided to ignore him. He didn’t really feel comfortable talking about it. Not even with Thorin, at least not yet. “I want ice-cream. Chocolate ice-cream.”

“Now?” questioned Thorin, a little surprised by Bilbo’s request. “But it’s freezing outside.”

“I still want it.” Thorin really didn’t have the heart to say no to him.

:::

It took them about ten minutes to get to the shopping center because Bilbo wanted to get ice-cream there. He accepted Thorin’s hand as they walked together to get it.

“Thank you for going with me today.”

“It was fun. Though I still don’t understand why you didn’t let me see your weight.”

“Because it’s not important,” tried Bilbo, but quickly realized there was no point in lying to Thorin. “Because I gained a lot of weight. You have no idea how much.”

Thorin smiled and pulled him closer. “Well just to clear this up once and for all, you look beautiful, and with this jacket no one can notice that you are pregnant.” Bilbo smiled before he snuggled into the warmth.

Thorin bought him the ice-cream he wanted before they found an empty bench and they decided to sit down.

“Do you want some?” Bilbo asked and offered him the ice-cream.

“No, thank you.”

“Come on, try it,” encouraged Bilbo and waited for Thorin to taste it. “It’s good, isn’t it?”

“Yes, but I still think eating ice-cream while it's so cold outside it’s not the best of ideas.” Bilbo just shrugged before he continued eating. “I’ll be right back,” suddenly said Thorin and stood up.

“Where are you going?” Bilbo quickly asked.

“I’ll be right back. Wait here,” was the last thing Thorin said before he disappeared.

Bilbo was left alone for almost twenty minutes before Thorin returned. For a minute he thought that Thorin forgot about him. “I thought you have left.”

“I would never do that to you,” Thorin smiled. Bilbo sensed he was up to something.

“Where were you?”

“I went to get something,” simply explained Thorin and presented Bilbo with the cutest plush bunny he has ever seen.

“For the baby?” Bilbo asked as he accepted the gift. The thought that Thorin would be the first on the buy something for the baby sounded amazing.

“For you,” Thorin explained simply.

“For me?”

“Yes, I thought you deserved to get something as well so that you won’t forget that there is always someone thinking about you.”

Bilbo hugged the plush close to his chest. “Thank you, Thorin.”

Thorin just smiled in return before he leaned down and after a few weeks finally kissed Bilbo properly. The younger boy immediately responded to the kiss with the same eagerness, completely forgetting that they were in the shopping center. Thorin broke the kiss for a second only to be pulled into another one by Bilbo.

“Take it easy, you know,” he reminded him.

“We were taking it easy and slow for too long,” answered Bilbo. “I was getting bored.”

“Good,” murmured Thorin into the kiss. “I was getting bored too.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It’s a longer chapter because it’s been two weeks since I updated. Let me know what you think. If you are interested you can find me on Tumblr or email me. When I have time I always love to chat.
> 
> Oh, and just one more thing. If anyone is willing to go through the next chapter when it’s finished let me know. Don’t need to correct much, just the typos because I really don’t have time.


	23. Chapter 23

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big 'thank you' to Chamelaucium, who helped me with this chapter.

For a change when Thorin woke up he was in a very good mood. And that had absolutely nothing to do with Bilbo. No, absolutely nothing. It was just that for some reason Bilbo made him happy, and he couldn't stop smiling when he was with him, or when Bilbo allowed him to kiss him… And that annoying fluttering feeling in his stomach refused to stop. Maybe he was just getting sick. Lovesick, he could almost hear Kíli say. But there was something different pulling him out of the bed this morning, not the usually annoying alarm clock. This time the need to see Bilbo practically dragged him out of the bed and into the kitchen downstairs.

He could hear everyone talking when he descended the stairs to join them. The last thing he expected was to almost bump into Bilbo, who was clearly headed out.

"Oh, sorry," apologized Bilbo when Thorin caught him in the last moment, "I didn't see you."

And there it was, that smile, that condemning smile that turned Thorin's brains into jelly. "Don't worry, it wasn't your fault," he spoke quietly, knowing that his mother and the twins were watching them. This was the last thing he wanted. "Are you already leaving? Won't you wait for me?"

"I was already… You know…."

"I know," answered Thorin calmly, which was really a surprise for Bilbo, who, in a way, expected one of Thorin's jealous outbursts. "Will I see you after school?"

Bilbo sent him a look. "I live with you, of course you are going to see me, silly," he said and then bit his lower lip. He really wanted to do something, but he wasn't sure how Thorin would take it. He quickly glanced back to Fíli and Kíli, before getting of his toes and stealing a kiss from Thorin.

Thorin was surprised to say the least. He didn't expect this from Bilbo, especially not so soon and in front of his family. Bilbo shifted nervously on his feet and blushed as he carefully studied his reaction. In the corner of his eyes Thorin could see Fíli and Kíli grinning like fools. If they wanted to see more they were about to see it. Thorin cupped Bilbo's cheeks before pressing their lips together into a lingering kiss. He wanted this for some reason, and apparently Bilbo did too.

"Okay, you proved your point," laughed Kíli when they pulled apart. "Can we go now?" he asked and Bilbo found himself nodding, not once breaking his eye contact with Thorin.

"I'll see you later," smiled Thorin.

"Later," said Bilbo once he regained his ability to speak. "Bye," he said as Kíli pushed him out of the door, urging him to move, as Bilbo continued to look at Thorin.

"Yeah, yeah, we get it," he said a little annoyed. "You'll get to see him later," was the last Thorin heard Kíli say before they were out of the house.

The only person left in the house was Valla. "Good morning, Mother," smiled Thorin rather awkwardly before he joined her for breakfast.

"Someone is in a good mood," she smiled.

"Yeah… It's a beautiful day," answered Thorin.

"I saw that you and Bilbo are getting along better. I'm happy for you…"

Thorin became alarmed the moment she trailed off. "But…"

Valla looked him in the eyes. "Nothing."

"No," insisted Thorin, "you wanted to say something, but then you didn't finish. Tell me what you wanted to say."

His mother sighed before she placed her hand on his, as if trying to calm him down. "I'm happy that you and Bilbo are getting along, but I can't help but worry."

"Why? What could possibly go wrong?"

"Thorin, sweetheart," Thorin always hated it when his mother called him like that, "I can see how he affects you, how he affects your behavior, how you changed since he came to live with us. And this is all great," she quickly added before Thorin could protest. "But you and I, and Bilbo, all know that he will eventually have to leave and that the baby will stay. You may not want to see it this way, but that's the truth. In a few months, when he gives birth he will leave, that was the deal. I'm sorry."

"He won't be moving on the other side of the planet," argued Thorin. He understood what his mother was trying to tell him, but he still refused to believe it.

"No, he won't," agreed Valla, "but no matter how strong he may appear right now, I know that he's falling apart inside. He loves the baby and giving it up will probably be the hardest thing he'll ever have to do in his life. He is determined not to show that to anyone, but when the time comes I fear he won't be able to hold himself back together."

"I could be there for him," offered Thorin.

Valla took a deep breath; this wasn't easy for her too. Her son has finally found someone to care about and now all this was doomed to failure. "I'm afraid you won't be able to. Can you be with there for him, offer him support, and then every night come back to the one thing he'll want to have the most but you will never be able to give to him? Are you sure you can handle the disappointment when he'll ask about the child, and you won't be able to tell him anything, because you'll know that this will only pain him? Can you do all these things and love him the way he deserves?"

Thorin remained silent and stare at his mother with a blank expression.

"I'm sorry," Valla spoke quietly, "but that's just the way things are. I won't say anything if you two decide to be together, it was never my intention to discourage you. I just wanted to protect you both from a broken heart, before it's too late." She squeezed his hand before she left.

Thorin just sighed. "It's already too late."

:::

"Can you please stop," asked Bilbo annoyed when the brothers didn't stop making kissing faces at him. "I'm serious, stop."

"You sound just like Thorin," teased Kíli.

"Maybe because he is with Thorin," continued Fíli.

"Stop it. I'm not with Thorin. It was just a kiss, that's all," insisted Bilbo.

"I bet you're going to sleep with him before the year is out," said Kíli and Bilbo's eyes widened.

"Firstly, this is private. And secondly, I'm not going to sleep with him."

"That's what you say now. I'm going to ask you in a few weeks if you still think the same."

"Can you now please stop," Bilbo pleaded when they approached Bofur, who was waiting for them. Bilbo decided to go to school with him and Fíli and Kíli decided to join them.

The brothers smirked before Kíli spoke again. "Later," he said in the same desperate tone Bilbo used when he said goodbye to Thorin. Bilbo just muttered something about how immature they were before he greeted Bofur.

"So, how was the appointment yesterday?" his friend asked. "You know, I could have gone with you, there was no need for you to go all alone." Kíli wanted to say something, but at the last moment held back. Apparently Bilbo _forgot_ to mention to Bofur that he wasn't going alone. His friend was starting to lose himself in the labyrinth of lies. It was only a matter of time before there would be absolutely no way out, if he and Thorin didn't soon sort the _thing_ between them.

"It was fine. Nothing special," Bilbo answered quickly.

"So the little one is doing okay?" Bilbo smiled and nodded. "And what about its Papa? How is he?"

"I'm fine, Bofur. Thank you for asking."

"No need to thank me. You are my friend, it's a normal thing to ask."

Fíli couldn't help but to roll his eyes as he walked with his brother behind them. Bofur was his friend, no one could argue with that. But this was just making his stomach turn. Bofur was doing all that he could so that Bilbo would change his mind and be with him. He wasn't sure if he should feel sorry for him, or if he should be angry because he was trying to steal his brother's boyfriend. Yes, no matter how much Thorin and Bilbo tried to deny it, Fíli already saw them together, and he wasn't the only one.

:::

The time at school was rather uneventful for Bilbo. He had lunch with Bofur before they went to the library to do some research for a paper that was due in tomorrow, and then he returned back to the mansion. And that's where the chaos began. Kíli was, to put it nicely, annoying. He once again fell asleep during history and as punishment he had to write a paper about the topic they were discussing while he was sleeping. But Kíli was smart. As Bilbo helped him many times before he was sure this would happen again, but surprisingly this time Bilbo refused to help him.

"No Kíli, I'm not writing this for you. I have to finish my paper and then I have to study."

"Please Bilbo," pleaded Kíli, "just this once. I promise I won't ask you ever again."

Bilbo just snorted at that. "I told you what you have to do. I even marked the pages in the book. All you have to do is read it and write a short summary. That shouldn't be so hard."

It wasn't hard to do, Kíli had to admit. But the problem was that he didn't want to do it. He wanted Bilbo's help, or in other words he wanted Bilbo to write it for him.

But sadly for him, Bilbo refused to change his mind and he rejected him every time he came into his room, begging for help, because he was stuck. When Kíli came for the sixth time, Bilbo had enough of everything. He couldn't study due to Kíli's constant interruptions, so he decided to find a quite place where no one would disturb him. Going back home was out of the question, since he didn't feel like walking, and moving to any other room in the house wouldn't prevent Kíli from disturbing him.

When Bilbo almost gave up he remembered something. There was a room in the house, he would bet that Kíli would never dare to enter. He quickly collected his books and took his pregnancy pillow before he waddled down the hall and stopped at the closed door. Thorin's room. He was never in his room, and he and Thorin never talked about it because it was always Thorin who came to sleep with him. But now… Now Thorin's room was the only one which was one hundred percent Kíli-free.

Bilbo took a deep breath before he decided to knock. He was going to do it, he started convincing himself but he never even touched the door. Thorin surely wouldn't be happy about him staying in his room. This was getting too personal. He turned around to return to his bedroom only to see that Kíli was once again heading toward his room. That was the last thing Bilbo needed to gather all the courage before he knocked.

" _Go away!"_ he heard Thorin call so Bilbo knocked again. _"I said: go away!"_

"Thorin, it's me," said Bilbo and the next second the door opened.

"Hi, I didn't know it was you," Thorin quickly started to explain.

"It's alright," answered Bilbo awkwardly.

"Come in," said Thorin and moved away so that Bilbo could enter before closing the door behind him. "How can I help you."

"Well… Khmm," he cleared his throat, "Kíli is being a little annoying at the moment and I-I can't finish anything if he keeps coming to my room. I just need a quiet place where I can-"

"If you want you can stay here," Thorin offered before Bilbo had the chance to finish. "You can use the desk, I was just looking some stuff online, I don't really need it." Bilbo glanced quickly at the bed. He usually studied in bed where he was the most comfortable. "Or you can use the bed, I don't mind," offered Thorin.

"Thank you."

"If you need anything I'll be here," said Thorin before he returned to his computer.

Bilbo took a deep breath to calm himself from all this excitement inside him before he climbed on the bed and found a comfortable position to study. He was on Thorin's bed. He never believed that something like that will ever happen, but it did, and he couldn't be happier about it.

A few minutes later they heard Kíli yelling in the hall. _"Very funny Bilbo! Hiding in Thorin's room, I should have expected something like that. I just hope you two have enough lube and condoms!"_

Before Bilbo knew it Thorin was at the door yelling back. "Mind your own business!" He closed the door before opening them again. "And before you steal from me again, just a quick note. Only I know which ones I haven't punctured!" Thorin yelled before closing the door.

" _Funny!"_

Bilbo just stared at him, unsure what to think, or say. "Hm, so what did he steal from you?" he asked carefully.

"Nothing important," answered Thorin before turning his attention back to the screen and Bilbo to his books.

In the next hour or so, they couldn't stop glancing at each other. Bilbo would a lot of times catch Thorin looking at him, and when Thorin wasn't paying attention Bilbo stared at him, meeting Thorin's eyes, offering him a smile, before returning back to his books. He wanted so much for Thorin to join him on the bed, but he knew that wouldn't happen.

Suddenly Thorin broke the silence. "I'm just going to take a shower, you can stay here," was all that he said before he disappeared into the bathroom.

Bilbo just relaxed back in the pillows. They smelled like Thorin. And The room was definitely Thorin's, and Bilbo found himself liking the room. And the bed… The bed was so comfortable and it smelled like Thorin. And it was Thorin all the way. Why in the world Thorin came to sleep in his bed he would never know.

As he hugged one of the pillows close his chest and inhaled Thorin's scent, there was suddenly a gentle knock on the door.

" _Bilbo, is Thorin still in the room?"_ Bilbo heard Kíli ask quietly, before the door opened slightly and Kíli's head appeared. "He's not here, is he?" he asked quietly.

"No, he is in the shower," answered Bilbo, not know why they were whispering.

"Good," said Kíli before he silently crept into the room. He walked to the nightstand on the left side of Thorin's bed before taking something out from the top drawer. Bilbo didn't quite see what exactly it was. "He keeps the punctured ones in the other one," Kíli quickly explained before throwing a glance at the nightstand next to Bilbo, "believe me, I tested them."

"What…?"

"Don't tell him I was here," was the last thing Kíli said before he disappeared.

Bilbo just shrugged, not knowing what to think of this whole ordeal, before he returned to his books. But there was something, something in that drawer. Something that Kíli mentioned, and it was starting to drive Bilbo crazy. He knew it was wrong, but he just couldn't help himself. He glanced toward the bedroom door, making sure Thorin was still in the shower before peeking inside the drawer.

What he found was at least a dozen condoms. He didn't know what to think so he pulled one out to take a better look.

"What are you doing here?" Bilbo jumped with surprise when Dwalin spoke. "Don't tell me you and Thorin-" said Dwalin when he saw the condom in Bilbo's hand.

"N-No," stammered Bilbo, "this isn't mine. We didn't… I wouldn't… Kíli said-"

"What are you doing here?" asked Thorin when he emerged from the bathroom with a towel around his waist. "I thought we were meeting in fifteen minutes."

"We are. I just came here early and I didn't want to stay downstairs all alone," explained Dwalin. "What is he doing here," he asked and gestured to Bilbo.

"I came here to study," quickly answered Bilbo. "I can leave-"

"No, stay," Thorin almost ordered. "We are going out anyway so you will have the quiet that you need."

"So you two didn't… You know…"

Thorin followed Dwalin's gaze to the condom in Bilbo's hand. "No… I wouldn't… Why do you have a condom in your hand again?"

Dwalin excused himself, informing Thorin that he will wait for him downstairs, so that they could finish their conversation in peace. "I-I didn't want to… But then Kíli… I just…" stammered Bilbo, not knowing how to explain.

"Kíli was in my room wasn't he?" Bilbo only nodded. "I knew it. That… Argh… I'm going to kill him if he doesn't stop going through my stuff!"

"He took something from the top drawer," silently confessed Bilbo.

"Yes, I know. That little thief. He's been stealing them for a few months now," Thorin admitted and Bilbo looked even more confused than before. "Condoms," Thorin clarified. "He's been stealing them from me. I told him that I've started puncturing them so that he would stop, but nothing seems to work."

"You punctured the condoms so that Kíli would learn his lesson? Have you lost your mind?!"

Thorin just rolled his eyes. "I just told him that, I never actually did it. They are still perfectly safe. I just told him that so that he would stop stealing."

"Why doesn't he just buy his own?" asked Bilbo.

"How should I know? He's so spoiled that he thinks he can do whatever he wants." Bilbo nodded before he closed the drawer. "You can stay here if you like. I don't mind."

"Thank you," said Bilbo and watched how Thorin once again disappeared into the bathroom, only to emerge a few minutes later impeccably dressed. Dressed to go out and have some _fun_ , Bilbo quickly realized, and frowned. Thorin was going out to have fun. Most likely with other people and Bilbo guessed that the interactions wouldn't require much clothing.

"I'll see you later," said Thorin before he opened the drawer and took a few wrappers out, like he would normally do. But this time something was different. Bilbo was there and the look of disappointment in his eyes showed Thorin what he really thought of him. "Right," he said and returned the wrappers to the drawer. "There is a no to that," he silently muttered before he offered Bilbo a smile and left.

"You took long enough," complained Dwalin when Thorin finally showed up. "I thought you two were having a quick one."

Thorin just shook his head. "I don't think Bilbo will ever sleep with me again."

"Don't whine so much. Just offer him one of those rare smiles and I can guarantee you he'll start pulling the clothes off of you." Thorin couldn't help but laugh. "Do you have everything?"

Thorin made a quick check. Phone, car keys, no condoms… But something was missing. "I forgot something," he said and Dwalin groaned, "I'll be right back."

He ran up to his bedroom, only to find Bilbo exactly the way he left him a few minutes ago. "Did you forget something?"

"I did," confirmed Thorin before he climbed on the bed and pressed a quick kiss to Bilbo's lips. "Only for you," he said, before he once again disappeared. Bilbo hugged the pillow in his lap close to his chest and smiled. He was happy.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's been more than a month and I'm so sorry you had to wait so long. I have to admit that it wasn't easy finding Bilbo and Thorin again. At the beginning everything was wrong. I don't know how to explain it. They just weren't the same. Double the Trouble certainly helped with that, and I think that they are the same as they were before. I hope you enjoyed this rather short chapter (I promise that in the future I'll try to make them longer), and please let me know what you think.
> 
> In three weeks I'm all yours :-)


	24. Chapter 24

 

**_"I need direction to perfection..."_ **

"Thorin", Bilbo warned, probably for the fifth time in the last two minutes. "Stop it," he ordered and pushed Thorin's hand away.

"What?" Thorin put his best ' _I'm innocent_ ' look on his face as he looked at Bilbo.

"You know what. I have to finish this book." Thorin rolled his eyes before he rolled on his back. "You said you were going to watch the TV."

"Yeah, that was before I realized how boring it is when you're watching it on mute without the subtitles," retorted Thorin.

"I can leave if you want," offered Bilbo.

"No! Stay."

"Then stop reaching under my shirt."

"I'm bored," Thorin complained like a child.

Bilbo closed the book and looked at Thorin who was lying on the bed next to him. "You dragged me into you room after dinner. I was perfectly okay with reading in my room. It was you who insisted-"

"Yes, yes, I know. I promised I'd leave you alone."

"Thank you."

Thorin smirked before he spoke again. "Though I don't remember you complaining last night when I found you in my bed."

Bilbo's ears turned red. "I-I was…" stammered Bilbo.

"Nor do I remember you complaining when you woke up this morning snuggled closed to me."

"I fell asleep!" interrupted Bilbo. "I don't know when you came back! If it bothered you so much you could have just woke me up and told me to leave."

"I never said I didn't enjoy sleeping with you," corrected Thorin, "I just wanted to point out that this morning you weren't complaining about my hand under your shirt."

"Now I'm reading," Bilbo pointed out. "And it's quite… distracting, when you constantly try to get your hands under my shirt. Can I continue please, or are we going to discuss this further? If that is to be the case I'm going back to my room."

"I won't say another word."

"Thank you."

Thorin once again tried to focus on the movie, but it was pointless. The movie wasn't interesting when he had Bilbo on his bed. He once again looked at the younger teen and smiled before he spoke. "What is it with you and this baggy jumper? You have clothes that fit you perfectly but you still prefer to wear this old rag."

Bilbo sighed and put the book down. He knew that he wouldn't be able to read much more. "What's wrong with this jumper?"

"It's old and too big for you," pointed out Thorin.

"That's the point."

"What point?" Bilbo sent him a look and Thorin understood what he was trying to say. "Come on. You're in my room. I've seen you naked. I don't think it's a big deal."

"It is a big deal," argued Bilbo.

"You're pregnant. If you thought you wouldn't be showing, you were wrong."

"People stare at me when they see my belly. Even Fíli and Kíli. And I don't like it. It feels like they are stripping me with their eyes."

"Let them stare," said Thorin and sat up.

"No," protested Bilbo when Thorin reached for the hem of the shirt to pull it off.

"We're in my room. No one is going to see."

"You will," Bilbo reminded him and tried to push Thorin's hands away.

Thorin knew he was never going to win this way so he pressed a lingering kiss to Bilbo's lips. "For me?" he asked just above a whisper. And surprisingly Bilbo nodded and lifted his arms so that Thorin could pull the jumper off. He had seen Bilbo's belly many times, but this was still a sight to behold. Bilbo's pajama top was tightly stretched over his belly. Bilbo instinctively pulled a pillow close to himself, trying to hide away from Thorin's gaze. "Don't," said Thorin and pulled the pillow away before kissing Bilbo again.

"I know it's stupid," said Bilbo and Thorin couldn't help but chuckle as he got a better look at Bilbo's pajamas.

"Yes, having trucks on your pajamas is really mature," he joked and Bilbo slapped his arm.

"Don't be an ass. You wanted to see. I know it looks horrible, but-"

"You are still the most amazing thing I have ever seen," Thorin finished, not once breaking his gaze with Bilbo. "You are a miracle," he added before he reached toward Bilbo's belly, but stopped in the last moment. "May I?"

Bilbo bit his lower lip and nodded. "Here," he took Thorin's hand and placed it on his belly. "The last time it kicked I felt it here." They waited almost a minute, but nothing happened. "Sorry. It happens sometimes. Maybe it's just tired…"

"I guess…"

Bilbo couldn't help but feel a bit sorry for Thorin, who still hadn't got to feel the baby move. No one did, except him. So he moved a little closer to Thorin on the bed and then pressed a quick kiss on his lips. Thorin couldn't help but smile at Bilbo's innocent kiss. He placed one hand on Bilbo's neck, gently lifting his head so that he could return the kiss, that wasn't so innocent. Bilbo shifted even closer and responded to the kiss with the same eagerness. They continued to kiss until they had to pull apart for air.

Bilbo licked his swollen lips as his breathing evened out. "I could do this all night," he admitted out loud.

"You sure?" Thorin apparently took it as a challenge.

"Mhmm," smiled Bilbo before Thorin kissed him again. The kiss even more demanding than the previous one and Bilbo couldn't help but to moan as he felt Thorin's tongue on his lip, requesting permission to enter, which Bilbo granted immediately. He felt tingles down his spine as Thorin pushed his tongue in his mouth. First just lightly teasing, but when Bilbo buried his fingers in his hair and pulled him closer their tongues battled for dominance. Bilbo let out a needy whine as he tried to pull Thorin even closer.

He completely forgot about Thorin's hand still resting on his belly, so when he felt the baby move he ignored and focused all his attention on Thorin.

"Why…" he all but whined, when Thorin pulled back, their lips swollen and red, both breathing heavily. Thorin's eyes dropped to Bilbo's stomach. "Don't worry about it, it happens all the time," Bilbo assured him and pressed a kiss to Thorin's lips, only to realize in that moment that something was different. He pulled back and looked at Thorin, who had his eyes glued on his belly.

"I felt it move…" Thorin gasped out. "I felt it…"

Bilbo couldn't help but to laugh a little at Thorin's surprised expression as he stared at his belly. "I figured," laughed Bilbo.

"It's amazing," said Thorin in awe as his hands roamed over Bilbo's belly, hoping to feel it again. Bilbo took his hand and pushed it lower on his belly and watched as Thorin's eyes widened as he felt it again. "A miracle," Thorin almost exclaimed and Bilbo couldn't help but laugh as he leaned back down and allowed Thorin to kiss his stomach through his shirt. "You. Are. Amazing," said Thorin between kisses and Bilbo couldn't help but laugh at the attention Thorin paid to his belly.

He had to pull him up so that he could kiss him. "I'm offended that you like my belly more than you like me," Bilbo pouted.

"I like your belly because it's a part of you," answered Thorin before kissing Bilbo's cheek and lying down on the bed next to him so that they were facing each other, his hand still resting on Bilbo's stretched middle.

They stayed quiet for a couple of minutes before Thorin spoke again. "Why didn't you tell me about it?"

"Tell you about what?" asked Bilbo, surprised by the sudden change of topic.

"You know what."

"Oh… It wasn't important." Bilbo looked away and did his best to avoid eye contact with Thorin.

"Still, you could have at least told me about it." Thorin watched as Bilbo did his best to do everything else except make an eye contact with him. "Bilbo," warned Thorin, "You can't ignore me forever. Why didn't you tell me?"

"What's the point?" asked Bilbo, a little annoyed that Thorin still didn't let go. "Ori asked if we would go-"

"And you told him no, before he even had a chance to finish," interrupted Thorin.

"We're not dating!" And once again they were wrapped in the uncomfortable silence. "It's just… It's… He asked if we would like to go on a double date… And we are not dating, and it would be awkward because you know how they are now that Dori knows, and I, I mean we can't just go with them and…you know…" Bilbo trailed off. "I didn't want to say yes because I know you, and I know that you don't do things like that, and then if I said yes, Ori would be all excited, and then I would have to tell him later that we-"

Thorin silenced him with a kiss, so that he would finally stop talking. "I know I'm don't excel at this, but give me at least some credit. I'm trying," Thorin said before he reached for his phone and dialed a number.

Bilbo just stared at him, not knowing what Thorin was planning.

" _Yes?"_

"Hey," greeted Thorin, "You two still want to go out?"

" _Let me check…"_ Thorin heard Dwalin talk to someone, most likely Ori before he spoke to him. _"Yeah, we're still on."_

"Excellent. I'll see you in twenty."

" _We'll be ready,"_ Dwalin answered before the call ended.

"What was that about," asked Bilbo as Thorin got out of the bed.

"We're going out. Now hurry up and get dressed, we're picking Ori and Dwalin up in twenty minutes."

Bilbo just stared at Thorin, completely in shock. "I'm not going out," he protested, "It's already past nine. You can't just tell me what to do."

"You can go change, or I'm taking you out in you pajamas. It's your choice."

"I told you: I'm not going."

Thorin got back on the bed and leaned over Bilbo, their faces only a few centimeters apart. "And I told you to go change. Now hurry up," he smiled as he patted Bilbo's butt.

It took him a few minutes to get dressed, but when he came back, Bilbo still hadn't moved from his bed.

"I'm not going," Bilbo repeated firmly.

Thorin rolled his eyes before he lifted him up bridal style and carried him out of the room. Bilbo had just enough time to wrap his arms around Thorin's neck.

"Let me down!" he ordered. "I'm not going!"

"You are," answered Thorin and carried him down the stairs. Only then did Bilbo realize that Thorin was serious when he said he would take him out in his pajamas.

"Thorin! Let me down."

"I'm sorry princess, you had your chance to go change, but you refused."

"Thorin," whined Bilbo. "Fine, you win," he gave up and Thorin stopped. "I'm going, I promise," assured him Bilbo when Thorin looked skeptically at him. "Please allow me to go change."

Thorin agreed and put him down. "If you're not back in five minutes I'm coming to get you."

"I'll come," assured him Bilbo before he hurried upstairs to change.

:::

"I'm so happy you two changed your mind," Ori said happily as he and Dwalin joined them. "I was really disappointed when you said you didn't want to go."

"I didn't have much of a choice. Thorin practically forced me come."

"There is no need to complain. You need to go out sometimes, besides it will be fun," Thorin assured him.

"Where are we even going at this hour?"

"He's joking, right?" asked Dwalin and Thorin shook his head. "At this hour? What are you, ten?"

"What…" said Bilbo in his defense.

"It's nine thirty on Friday," Dwalin pointed out. "With other words: time to go out and have fun. It's still too early if you ask me."

"So you go out at midnight or what?"

"Usually at one," commented Ori dryly, "When I'm having trouble keeping my eyes open."

"Why do you even go with him?" Bilbo asked.

"Because it's fun. It's always fun to go with these two. The only problem is that at five in the morning they are too drunk to even know what they are doing and I have to get them home."

"So your idea of fun is babysitting them, while they drink copious amount of alcohol?"

"I'm not always drunk," argued Dwalin and Ori sent him a look.

"It's not that they always get drunk-" Ori tried to explain.

"It was only a few times," interrupted Thorin. "And it was mostly Dwalin."

"Hey! Like you never got so drunk that you couldn't even stand."

"It happened one or two-"

"Or three."

"Fine!" growled Thorin. "It happened a couple of times. But the point is that it was never only alcohol, there were always some other substances involved. While you," he said and looked at Dwalin in the rear mirror, "Somehow always get drunk when Ori is bringing you drinks."

"Excuse me!" interrupted Ori angrily, "it happened only once that someone put something in my drink."

"Yeah, and that bastard lost his tooth because of it," Dwalin announced proudly.

Thorin could help but smile at the memory when Dwalin drank the drink that was intended for Ori and then passed out. It was hilarious to watch him slowly lose his balance and then collapse. Luckily he was completely sober so he hadn't had any problem getting Dwalin home that night. Though he did have a problem next morning when Dwalin didn't stop complaining about his headache.

"You took drugs?" asked Bilbo in disbelief.

"Yes…" answered Thorin rather unsure. "But only a couple of times. You know how overbearing my father can be so I needed something to take the edge off."

"I-I…" stammered Bilbo, "I just can't believe you are so stupid."

"Believe me, he is," interrupted Dwalin.

"Shut up!," snapped Thorin and then spoke to Bilbo again. "It happened only a couple of times. I haven't done it in ages."

"That's not important. The thing is that you took them, even when you knew how dangerous it can be. And what if someone gave you something else and you died?"

"I know the people who deal with this-"

"Okay, change of subject," interrupted Ori, knowing that if he didn't interrupt they would start fighting. "As always I'm playing with Thorin and you, Bilbo, can play with Dwalin."

"I still don't know where we're going," Bilbo reminded him.

"Bowling, we are going bowling."

:::

"This should be fun," commented Dwalin, dryly.

It was Bilbo's turn, and as expected Bilbo had never played before. "So, uhm, how do I do this?"

"Take one ball and throw it. None of us is a professional."

"Thorin," said Ori quietly and pushed his boyfriend's best friend to help Bilbo.

"Take this one," said Thorin and gave a ball to Bilbo.

"Why do I get number seven? You used sixteen."

"Sixteen is heavier and it's best if you start with light ones. Just try it. Once you get the feeling you can use other balls too."

"So I just throw it?"

"Yes."

"Alright then," silently added Bilbo before he focused on the pins. "Here goes nothing."

Dwalin muttered something under his breath and Ori slapped his arm as a warning. "You paired him with me so that we would lose." Ori offered him a warm smiled before he looked back at Bilbo. He always played with Thorin so that they would win. He loved Dwalin, he really did, but he also loved winning and if that meant that Dwalin would be in a little sour mood for the rest of the night he could live with that. He planned to make it up to him later.

"Thank you," smiled Dwalin and pressed a kiss to Ori's cheek as Bilbo threw the ball and managed to knock down all the pins.

Ori's jaw dropped. That wasn't supposed to happen.

"What does that mean?" Bilbo asked as he stared at the display.

"It means that you had a strike and that the next round you get double points," explained Dwalin. "And it also means that we are in the lead." With Thorin's nine, and Ori's eight points, they were still two points behind them. And Bilbo would get double points in the next round. This was very promising.

"Beginners luck," argued Ori and pouted.

"Or we are just better than you two," smiled Dwalin and watched his boyfriend stride to the balls, determined to win this game.

Half an hour later Dwalin's smile was even wider than before. "And another strike for Bilbo," he announced happily as Thorin and Ori sulked in the chairs. "And that means we won by 79 points. Beginners luck, huh?"

"My fingers hurt," complained Bilbo. "Is that normal?"

"Yup," answered Dwalin before he offered a high five. "You sure you never played this before?"

"Yes. This was my first time. It was fun."

"Of course it was, we won!"

"Beginners luck," smiled Bilbo.

"I'm going to get us something to drink and then we can start the next round," said Thorin.

"Okay."

"I'm going with you," said Ori and went after him.

"Thank you, but I'm not Dwalin. I don't need you with me all the time." Ori decided to ignore Thorin's rather rude comment and followed him to the bar where he ordered drinks. "Why do I have a feeling you are here to give me a speech about something."

Ori scowled before he spoke. "Because-"

"I knew it," Thorin sighed.

"No, please, hear me out."

"If this is about Bilbo-"

"Of course it's about Bilbo. Who else would it be about?"

"It's none of your business," Thorin reminded him sharply.

"It is my business, because Bilbo is my friend," Ori answered back. "Look, I'm not going to tell you what to do, you already know that. Just…" he looked at Bilbo and his boyfriend and it looked like they were having a serious conversation about something. "Just don't give him false hope. Tonight was amazing and I'm happy that you two are getting along, but when I asked him today if he wanted to come he said no because he didn't want to put you in a situation where you don't have a choice. He knows what he wants, the problem is that you're not completely sure of what you want." Thorin wanted to say something, but Ori was determined to finish before he let Thorin speak. "You have to decide. If you want to be with him then tell him so that you can both be happy, if not, you have to stop giving him false hope, because it will destroy him."

"You don't understand. This is not the same as it was with you and Dwalin. Bilbo and I are not in the same situation."

"It's almost the same."

"When you and Dwalin broke up, it wasn't that hard for you because you had all your friends and you knew that there was still a chance that you would get back together-"

"We never broke up," interrupted Ori and Thorin sent him a look.

"With Bilbo it's different. He's pregnant, and once that baby is born… There is no way that it could work between us after that," Thorin added quietly. "It's not worth it. I can't cause him so much pain."

"And do you think you are not hurting him now? I know that look. I know it better than you can imagine. That's me, before me and Dwalin finally started dating. I can tell you that, that look hurts as much as a breakup. When Dwalin and I broke up-"

"I thought you said you didn't," Thorin tried to be funny.

"When we broke up it hurt. I didn't know if we would ever get back together. But it hurt less than looking at him every day, knowing he would never see me the way I wanted him to. You say you only have a few months with him. I would always take a few months with the person I love, over being alone. A few months of love is a lifetime of memories. Don't throw that away just because you're scared you'll hurt him. You love him," Ori stated simply. "Even if you deny it right now, deep down you know I'm right. Take a leap of faith Thorin; it just might turn out better than you think."

:::

"Everything alright?" Bilbo asked when they returned with drinks.

"Yeah, everything is perfect," smiled Ori and allowed Dwalin to pull him in a loving embrace.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It gets really boring when Bilbo and Thorin are not fighting.


	25. Chapter 25

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big 'thank you' to Chamelaucium, who helped me with this chapter.

Kíli’s day couldn't start any better. His mother had appointed him the most enjoyable task this morning: waking Thorin and Bilbo up for breakfast. And Kíli was never going to let such an opportunity pass. After all, annoying his brother in the morning was his favorite thing to do. Making Bilbo embarrassed was just a bonus.

He guessed that Bilbo slept in Thorin’s bed, again, and he was right. When he entered the room, he saw the most loving thing he ever saw his brother do. Bilbo was lying on his side, his pregnancy pillow supporting his belly, while Thorin was lying behind him, one arm over him, as if trying to prevent Bilbo from going anywhere, creating a bigger spoon. They looked so peaceful, and his brother looked like a decent guy for a change. But no matter how beautiful the sight was, Kíli still had a job to do. He needed to wake them up.

“Rise and shine, sleepyhead,” he whispered in Bilbo’s ear, making him jump with surprise and accidentally hit Thorin. “Good morning.”

Thorin winced in pain before he rolled on his back and rubbed his eyes. “What are you doing in my room, Kíli,” he growled, voice thick with sleep.

“Mum told me to wake you. We’re having breakfast together,” Kíli explained simply.

“Mum of all people knows that I don’t eat breakfast.”

Kíli sighed. “Dad’s here.” Thorin muttered something under his breath that apparently only Kíli understood. Bilbo was far too tired to even care. “I thought that would change your mind. Come on, it’s not that bad. You only have to suffer him over breakfast.” He gently shook Bilbo, so that the younger teen would wake up. “You too, Bilbo. Mum said everyone. Breakfast is in fifteen,” added Kíli before he left.

Bilbo rolled to the other side so that he could look at Thorin. He shook him gently. “Come on, we have to get up.”

“Well, I don’t want to,” protested Thorin. “I’m really not in the mood to start fighting with him so early in the morning.”

“Then don’t fight with him. I’ll be there and if he gets too annoying, you can always talk to me.” Bilbo squeezed Thorin’s hand reassuringly before he got out of the bed.

:::

As always when Thráin was in the house, everyone decided it was best to stay quiet. That way the chances were greater that the meal would pass without any arguments. But Thráin didn’t spend much time with his family, so when he was finally at home, he was adamant to know everything that happened. And nothing escaped him. Not even the fact that his son was sitting next to Bilbo. He knew something was going on between them.

“So, who will tell me what I missed while I was away?”

“Nothing happened, dad,” said Fíli.

“Nothing out of the ordinary,” added Kíli.

Thráin didn’t care about that. He ignored their answers completely. His interest lay in something else.

Thorin knew his father would try to push his buttons. He knew that too well. And he was determined to not give his father the satisfaction of irritating him. Not this time. This time he had Bilbo next to him. He would never believe it was possible, but Bilbo’s presence calmed him down. And Bilbo squeezing his hand reassuringly when he felt his father’s eyes on him, reminded him that there no point in arguing with his father, because lately he wasn’t really himself.

“So Thorin,” Thráin started, and Thorin’s hold on Bilbo’s hand tightened. It was still far from painful, but Bilbo knew Thorin wasn’t enjoying this. “How are you doing?”

Thorin looked up from his plate. “Great, Father. I’m doing great as always.” He even managed to force a smile on his lips.

Thráin clearly wasn’t happy with the answer. “So this,” he eyed both him and Bilbo, “Is what has happened to you.”

Thorin pulled Bilbo’s hand on the table and intertwined their fingers so that everyone could see. “Is that a problem?” he asked and Bilbo bowed his head. He had no idea what game was Thorin playing, but he didn’t want everyone to notice that he blushed.

“No, son. Absolutely not! Why would it be a problem?”

“I don’t know. You wanted to know, and now you do.”

“I’m just as surprised as everyone here, I assume,” Thráin said defensively. “I didn’t know you two were even on speaking terms. The way you treated him, I’m surprised he is even talking to you.”

“What happened between Bilbo and I is none of your business,” growled Thorin.

“It is my business, boy! You are forgetting that I’m the one paying for this whole charade-“

“Then stop!” interrupted Thorin.

“Don’t test my patience, boy! It’s already running thin.” He looked at everyone at the table. “This whole family is suffering because of your actions! Because you are foolish and you never use your head. You only see what you want, not how you are going to get it. Everything you have, I gave you! My money is paying for all the damage you caused. Not even once did you put your effort into achieving something. You were born with a silver spoon, but you are forgetting that I can take it away from you whenever I want.” Thráin took a deep breath to steady his racing heartbeat. “I will be the one suffering the consequences of your actions for the rest of my life, not you. The least you can do is show me respect.”

Thorin remained silent for a moment, as did everyone else, before he pushed away from the table stood up and left. Bilbo, unsure what to do, stayed with the family and allowed Thorin some space.

:::

A light knock on his door made Bilbo look up from his books, and the next moment Thorin stepped into his room. “Are you avoiding me too?” he asked and Bilbo shook his head before he pushed the books away and made some space on the bed for Thorin to join him. He didn’t have to invite him. Thorin easily found himself on the bed, his head resting in Bilbo’s lap.

He took a deep breath and relaxed. He needed some time to think things through. Bilbo, by now, knew him enough to know that when ready, Thorin would tell him everything, and until then he would keep him comfortable and relaxed. Running his fingers through Thorin’s hair only made things faster, because a few minutes later Thorin sighed. It wasn’t a bad sigh, it was a sigh that meant that Thorin was ready to talk.

“About what happened this morning-“

“It’s okay, Thorin, you don’t need to explain anything to me," Bilbo interrupted.

“I want to… What my father said, no matter the way he said it, it is true. I hurt you, and yet you still talk to me, allow me to kiss you, allow me to be in your life. How can you do this?”

Bilbo ignored Thorin’s question and continued to run is fingers through Thorin’s hair. “Can I ask you a question?”

Thorin only nodded in response. He was enjoying Bilbo’s ministrations far too much to open his eyes.

“Do you promise to tell me the truth?” Thorin nodded again.

“That night when we slept together,” started Bilbo slowly, still gathering his courage, “Why did you pick me? I’ve seen you with girls, and I know that you slept with many of them, but that night you picked me. Why?”

Thorin let out a breath before he looked Bilbo in the eye. “I only slept with girls because it was easier for me. They don’t complicate that much about one-night-stands. With guys, it’s always harder, because they are shy and it’s a miracle if you find someone who isn’t, you  know, looking for something serious. As you might have guessed, I’m not really good at this whole relationship thing.”

Bilbo couldn’t help but laugh. “I’ve noticed.” Thorin took his hand and kissed his knuckles. “How did you know I liked you?”

“I didn’t know you liked me,” corrected Thorin. “But I did know that you liked guys.”

“How?”

“Bofur,” Thorin explained simply. “He didn’t stop talking about you, so I knew there was something about you. And then there was the staring,” Thorin teased.

“I didn’t stare!” protested Bilbo.

“Fine, you were resting your eyes. Does that sound better?” Bilbo nodded in response. “And then when I approached you, you seemed like a nice, willing person-“

“That’s enough, thank you.” Bilbo hesitated for a moment before he asked the next question. “What about what you told your father?”

“What about it?” questioned Thorin and looked at Bilbo, who was biting his lower lip. “About what I said about us?” Bilbo continued to stare at Thorin, hoping that he would get his answer soon. “You still didn’t answer my question. Why are you so nice to me after everything I’ve done to you?”

“Explaining why you love someone, it’s like trying to describe how water tastes like,” Bilbo answered quietly, hoping that his confession wouldn’t scare Thorin away.

He didn’t scare Thorin away. The older teen smiled before he spoke. “I want what I told my father to be the truth. But only if you’ll have me.”

Bilbo lost his ability to speak, his heart was racing, and he couldn’t believe his ears. Did Thorin just ask him to be together? “You-you mean like a couple?” stammered Bilbo and Thorin could help but to laugh at Bilbo’s loss of words.

“What I’m asking you, Bilbo Baggins,” started Thorin as he sat up so that he could look Bilbo in the eye, “Is if you would accept me as your boyfriend.” In that moment of silence, even breathing sounded loud.

“Yes,” almost cried Bilbo and threw himself into Thorin’s embrace. “A million times, yes!”

“You aren’t going to cry, are you?” asked Thorin when he heard Bilbo sniffle.

“No,” answered Bilbo, tears streaming down his cheeks. He wiped most of them on his sleeve before he smiled at Thorin. “I’m so happy right now!”

“Then stop crying,” said Thorin and cupped his cheek.

“I can’t. The hormones,” Bilbo complained and allowed Thorin to pull him in his lap. He wrapped his arms around Thorin’s neck and snuggled into his chest. “Happy.”

“What?” asked Thorin.

“Right now, I’m happy,” Bilbo clarified.

Thorin smiled at him before pressing his lips to Bilbo’s. He never thought that kissing him would come so easily. The way thing started between them… Thorin could only hope that it would only get better. It was hard to admit it, but Ori was right. He needed Bilbo by his side. No matter how much it hurt he wouldn’t exchange those kisses for anything in this world. And apparently neither would Bilbo. The younger teen had become quite skilled in kissing, and Thorin would proudly take all the credit for that. Bilbo was no longer shy when it came to kissing when they were alone and he was sure no one would disturb them.

After few light kisses Bilbo wanted more. He moved so that he could straddle Thorin’s thighs before he kissed him again, more passionately this time. All Thorin could do was let out a moan as Bilbo pushed him back into the headboard and continued to kiss him. His hands exploring what they could reach, while he went lower. Firstly kissing Thorin’s jaw, then proceeding to his neck where he sucked a light bruise, making sure that Thorin wouldn’t accidentally forgot that he now belonged to him. _Belonged to him._ Just thinking about that sent shivers down Bilbo’s spine and he couldn’t help but press closer to Thorin, and rolling his hips, feeling friction where it felt good. Very good.

He broke the kiss only to look at Thorin’s eyes. His pupils were dilated and he was breathing heavily. Thorin smirked before he put one hand on the back of Bilbo’s head and pulled him in a searing kiss. He could feel Bilbo’s clever fingers pulling at his shirt and it didn’t take long before it was free from his pants and Bilbo could finally reach under his shirt. Blunt nails felt amazing on his skin and he could only hope that Bilbo wouldn’t notice what effect it had on him. But Bilbo did notice, and knowing that Thorin was enjoying this as much as he was he grew even bolder.

Thorin’s belt was easily undone and Bilbo couldn’t help but smile into the kiss. He thought this would be harder to do. He could feel Thorin’s hands on his back, going lower until he felt them gently squeeze his butt. He reached for the zipper of Thorin’s pants and that was when Thorin caught his hand.

“Bilbo, no…”

Bilbo pouted because Thorin broke the kiss, but more than that, he pouted because Thorin refused to go further. His pout quickly changed into disappointment because Thorin rejected him. He didn’t want to do more than this, Bilbo thought as he moved off of Thorin and sat back on the bed.

“Hey, hey…” said Thorin and cupped his cheek before placing a kiss on Bilbo’s lips. By the look on the younger teen’s face he was sure that Bilbo would refuse to return the kiss, but surprisingly Bilbo kissed him back. “You look cute when you’re pouting,” he teased.

“Ugh…” Bilbo shoved at Thorin playfully  before reaching for his book. Fun time was apparently over before it even began.

Thorin knew he had to say something. “It’s not that I don’t want it,” he started, “I think it’s more than obvious that I do.” Bilbo couldn’t help himself but to glance at Thorin’s obvious arousal. The realization that he managed to cause that made him blush, but deep down he felt proud about it. “But look, I don’t want to rush into things. The last thing I want right now is for you to regret something we’ve done. If you're still up for it, we will do it when it feels right, when we know each other better.”

“We have been getting to know each other for long enough,” Bilbo tried to argue, only to be interrupted by Thorin.

“I know. But you are still trying to rush into things because you are afraid I’ll change my mind later. I can assure you that I won’t. This will be our first time together since we are… you know, together and…”

“So you’ll be my first for the second time. Never thought that was possible,” muttered Bilbo under his breath, interrupting Thorin’s train of thought.

“… Your first?” questioned Thorin, when he finally caught the meaning of Bilbo’s words.

Bilbo sent him a look.

“Shit!" Thorin cursed loudly. “Shit, shit, shit,… Why didn’t you say anything?!”

“Like it would make any difference!”

Thorin just stared at him in complete shock.

“Don’t stare at me like that! You knew-“

“It’s impossible to know! Shit, Bilbo! You could have been seriously hurt…”

“Yes, well, it hurt,” commented Bilbo dryly.

“Why didn’t you say anything?”

“I was a little busy trying to keep up with you, since you were in a such a hurry. I didn’t really have time to explain that if we slept together, there was a chance I might end up pregnant if you didn’t put a condom on…”

“Don’t start,” warned Thorin, knowing that the last time they had a conversation about this it didn’t end well.

“… And oh, that I have never slept with anyone,” continued Bilbo, not allowing Thorin to interrupt him.

Thorin rubbed his face in his hands and let out a sigh. The relationship with Bilbo started in the worst way possible. “I’m sorry… I never even thought about…”

“It’s alright,” interrupted Bilbo. “I’m over it.”

“No, please, just…”

“Please let this go,” said Bilbo quietly. “I’m sorry I even brought this up. We didn’t really start on a very good note. Can we please forget about it and move on?”

Thorin had no other choice but to nod in agreement, before Bilbo placed a light kiss on his lips.

“So we are good?”

“We are good,” assured him Bilbo before snuggling close to him.

:::

“Sooooo… How long has this been going on?” asked Kíli with a teasing smile on his lips.

“Leave us alone,” growled Thorin at his younger brother while he was driving. They were going to Dwalin’s house since he was the only one willing to host a party. Valla and Thráin were still in the house so having a party at Durin’s mansion was not an option. Luckily Dwalin was willing to help.

“We both saw you two kiss,” continued Kíli.

“Wouldn’t be the first time…”

“This was different,” argued Kíli. “Bilbo,” he whined, hoping to get an answer from him. Bilbo looked back and smiled, giving Kíli the answer he needed. “I’m so happy for you two!”

“I can’t believe you got Thorin to agree to this,” commented Fíli. “I give you points for that. I thought Thorin would be alone forever.”

“Now that you know you can finally leave us alone.”

Once they arrived Thorin parked his car in the garage. Something he always did because the last thing he wanted was his car destroyed by some drunk teenagers.

“Fíli,” called Thorin, “Watch Kíli. I really don’t want him to throw up in my car because he drank too much.”

Fíli nodded before following his brother in the house. He glanced back at Thorin and Bilbo, who kissed lightly before they followed him into the house.

Thorin offered Bilbo his hand and he accepted it without thinking. It was a nice feeling, knowing that his boyfriend was willing to hold his hand. _Boyfriend,_ thought Bilbo. He would never have thought that he would call Thorin his boyfriend. Yet here he was, at a party holding his hand…while everyone stared at them. The music was loud so Bilbo couldn’t tell what they were saying, but it was more than clear that they were talking about them.

“Um… Thorin… They are staring.”

“Let them stare,” whispered Thorin in his ear as he continued to lead him through the house. Bilbo couldn’t help but feel a little uneasy with all these people staring at him. Well, at him and Thorin. But since the latter chose to ignore them, Bilbo decided to do the same.

“Thorin,” called Dwalin and immediately approached his friend. “I thought you weren’t coming.” He didn’t miss how his best friend was holding Bilbo’s hand.

“Something came up, that’s why it took so long.”

“Right…” Dwalin still didn’t tear his eyes away from Bilbo. “You can crash here if you like,” he offered.

“No thanks. We’ll be going back home.”

“Suit yourself.”

“What do I have to do here to get something to drink,” he asked.

Dwalin smiled. “Follow me. Oh, and Bilbo, if you are looking for Ori, he is somewhere there,” he motioned to the group in the living room before he got Thorin something to drink.

It didn’t take long before Ori decided to join them. “Bilbo! I’m so happy that you are here! And you are here with Thorin! How cute is that,” asked Ori and tried to press a kiss to Dwalin’s lips.

“Okay, that’s enough for you tonight,” he said and took the plastic cup from his boyfriend. Ori was already tipsy and it wouldn’t take much more for him to pass out completely.

“Give it back!" Ori protested and reached for his drink.

“You’ll thank me later.”

Ori smirked before he pressed his body close to Dwalin’s. “Really? And when is going to be later,” he asked as he started toying with Dwalin’s collar. “Are we going to do naughty stuff in your bed?” he asked, giggling.

Thorin had to look away. This whole thing was awkward.

“Not if you don’t stop drinking.”

Ori smiled wider. “He’s charming, isn’t he?” he asked before he pulled Dwalin away from the pair.

“Awkward,” muttered Thorin.

“I’ve never seen Ori like that.”

“Me neither,” said Thorin before he place his cup on the table and wrapped his arms around Bilbo’s waist and pulled him close. “What’s wrong?”

“Nothing,” lied Bilbo as he allowed Thorin to pull him close. He was a little worried how Thorin would behave around him in public, but so far he had absolutely nothing to complain about.

“You are constantly looking around. Just tell me what’s wrong,” insisted Thorin.

Bilbo looked up only to see Thorin watching him, waiting for him to give him an answer. “Everyone is staring,” he admitted quietly.

Thorin leaned down before he place a kiss on his lips. “That’s what you are so worried about? Because they stare? Let them stare, if they have nothing better to do with their life.”

“They are staring because we came together,” pointed out Bilbo.

“Would you rather that we pretend that we don’t know each other?”

“No,” quickly answered Bilbo.

Thorin, satisfied with the answer, smiled. “Good. Now stop thinking about it and kiss me. At least they’ll have something to talk about.”

Bilbo wrapped his arms around Thorin’s neck, as the older teen leaned down to kiss him. Bilbo could feel that everyone was looking at them now, but he did his best not to think about it as Thorin deepened the kiss. Bilbo immediately opened his mouth, granting Thorin access. He got on his toes as he felt Thorin’s hand on the small of his back, and returned the kiss with the same eagerness, tasting the beer that Thorin was drinking not a few minutes ago. Once they pulled apart Bilbo blushed as red as a tomato when he met a few pairs of eyes that continued to look at them. He let out a groan before he buried his face in Thorin’s chest. The older teen couldn’t help but to laugh.

:::

Being with Thorin, or better said being with Thorin at a party was a very nice experience for Bilbo. Apparently everyone knew Thorin. If they were his friends, Bilbo did not know, but they still came to talk to him and they were all very nice to him. He met a lot of new people and so far he was enjoying the party. No one asked about the _relationship_ they were now in, and Bilbo was actually really glad they didn’t.

“Would you like something to drink,” asked Thorin while they were having a conversation with one of his old acquaintances.

“You don’t have a drink. Here take mine,”  one of Thorin’s friends offered.

Bilbo panicked for a second. “No thank you.”

“It’s just beer, nothing else, I swear.”

Bilbo was now panicking inside. He had to find a good excuse and he had to find it fast.

“He can’t,” answered Thorin, and Bilbo watched as the guy offering him drink looked at him with surprise. “He was sick a couple of weeks ago, so he is still on antibiotics.”

 _Fairly decent lie_ , Bilbo thought.

“That must suck for you right now.” The guy looked like he really felt sorry for Bilbo because he couldn’t drink. “I know how you feel. I was taking them once as well, and there was a party and I couldn’t go… Man, my life sucked.”

Luckily it didn’t take long before Bilbo and Thorin were alone again. Until Bilbo saw someone enter the room. “Thorin… I have to…”

Thorin followed Bilbo’s gaze and found Bofur standing in the middle of the living room. “It’s okay. I’ll go find Dwalin in the meantime and check how Ori is doing. Find me when you’re done, okay?”

“Okay,” promised Bilbo before placing a kiss on Thorin’s cheek and walking toward Bofur who was apparently waiting for him.

“Hi,” he greeted rather awkwardly.

“Hi.”

“So, um, how have you been,” asked Bilbo, trying to make small talk and completely failing at it.

“Good…”

Bilbo didn’t know what else to ask and this was quickly becoming awkward. “How are your brothers?”

“Great…”

“All you going to be like this all night?” Bilbo finally snapped.

“Like what?!”

“Oh I don’t know. Being all like ‘I don’t care about anything in the world’!”

“What I like to do is my business and I don’t see how that would concern you.”

“You're my friend!” pointed out Bilbo, louder than he meant to.

“Am I? Am I really your friend?”

“What’s that supposed to mean? Of course you are!”

“Sure I am!” Bofur yelled and now more than a few pairs of eyes were on them. “That’s why I learned that you are dating him from a person I don’t know, who sent me a picture of him and his tongue down your throat!”

“I was planning to tell you! We just started going out and I haven’t had a chance to tell anyone. You would be the first person to know.”

“Right,” spat Bofur. “I’ll be the first to know after everyone else who saw you two exchange _tender_ kisses in public!”

“You are acting like a child,” accused Bilbo. “I don’t know you anymore! You knew how I felt about Thorin and now you are making such a big deal out of it.”

“I’m not making a big deal about it,” argued Bofur. “I’m trying to protect you! You can’t think clearly when he’s around you. You’re stupid and you listen to everything he says to you. He’s not perfect.”

Bilbo had had enough. “I don’t know why I felt the need to explain anything to you!” He tried to pass Bofur, but he caught his arm and held him back.

“Did he even tell you why he slept with you?”

Bilbo pulled his arm out of Bofur’s grip. “Of course he did! We can actually talk with each other. Since with you all I’ve been doing lately is argue.”

“Right, but the part about the bet he left out?” The expression on Bilbo’s face gave him an answer.

“What bet?”

“Oh, he didn’t tell you about how he made a bet with me that he would get you to sleep with him before I got the chance to ask you out?” Bilbo could feel tears filling his eyes. “He left that part out… How Thorin of him, wouldn’t you say?”

Bilbo couldn’t hold back anymore and he let the tears fall freely. “You are lying,” he said just above whisper.

“Wake up Bilbo! He is not prince charming! He is the worst that could happen to anyone. He is the ten plagues of Egypt and that’s me being nice to him. I said the worst that could happen, right. You being pregnant is the testament to that!”

Suddenly the music wasn’t so loud anymore and not just a few people, but _everyone_ was staring at them. Bilbo never felt more humiliated in his life.

 _He’s pregnant,_ he heard them whisper. _He got knocked up. That poor thing thought that Thorin was actually dating him. Poor stupid thing. I would feel bad for him if this wasn’t the best prank ever. That loser slept with Thorin…_

And they didn’t stop. Soon Bilbo was lost in the whispering about him. Bofur was right. He was stupid. Stupid enough to believe Thorin, to think that Thorin cared for him. Now everyone knew and he would be the laughing stock of the entire school.

“Bilbo?” Thorin questioned when he appeared in the room, Dwalin right next to him. They knew something was wrong the moment everything went silent. Thorin immediately knew something was wrong when he saw Bilbo crying. “Bilbo?” he called but the younger teen pushed his way through the crowd and out of the house before Thorin was able to catch him. “What did you say to him?!” he demanded from Bofur.

“Just the truth.”

“I’m going to kill you when I get back!” he said before he ran after Bilbo. He saw him in front of the house running toward parked cars. “Bilbo wait! Please wait!” He was too late, and before he was able to catch him, Bilbo got in the car and the car drove away, leaving Thorin alone on the street while most of the people at the party had their phones out, filming everything that was happening.

Thorin was sure of one thing. He was going to kill Bofur, if it is the last thing he’ll ever do.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I’m sorry I didn’t answer your comments for the previous chapter, but I didn’t want to spoil anything. You have to admit that you suspected something like this will happen.
> 
> Feedback is always welcome.


	26. Chapter 26

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big 'thank you' to Chamelaucium, who helped me with this chapter. Seriously, you are amazing, and work super fast :)

Bilbo didn't even try to hold back his tears. He was crying softly as a stranger drove him home. He just wanted to go home. He wanted to climb into his own bed and forget about the rest of the world. It hurt. It really hurt. It didn’t matter that he and Thorin weren’t even together for a day. It hurt because he believed that Thorin actually cared for him, that he wasn’t just his toy. But Thorin did play with him, and Bilbo had no one but himself to blame. He should have listened when people warned him about Thorin. He’d decided to ignore them and follow his heart, and now look how it ended.

“Are you alright?” the stranger asked.

“No…”

“Do you want to talk about it? You really look like you need someone who’ll listen.”

“There is nothing to talk about. I was stupid enough to believe a certain person… and now… It’s my fault, there’s nothing to do about this.”

The car stopped in front of Bilbo’s house as requested, and before the stranger could say something else Bilbo thanked him for the ride and disappeared.

Belladonna knew something was wrong the second she heard the front door open. They weren’t expecting anyone and there was no one that would enter their house uninvited. She stood up to see what was happening, only to be greeted by her crying son halfway.

“Mum…” cried Bilbo and before he knew it he was pulled into his mother’s welcoming embrace.

“It’s alright sweetheart. Everything is going to be alright,” she soothed. Bilbo was far from a small child, but never before she had seen him like this. So vulnerable, so heartbroken.

“What’s going on?” asked Bungo when he saw them. “Is everything alright? Bilbo?”

Bilbo just shook his head and continued to cry on his mother's shoulder.

“Sweetheart, maybe we should sit down,” she suggested. “I’ll make you a cup of tea to calm down, and then we’ll talk.” Bilbo reluctantly let go of his mother. She cupped his cheeks and forced him to look her in the eyes. They were red, and the tears never seemed to stop. “Come, you’ll feel better.”

Bilbo allowed her to lead him to the living room, where he sat down and waited for the tea. His dad remained silent, but Bilbo knew that he was angry. Not at him, but at the person who caused him pain. It looked like both of his parents had a pretty good idea about what had happened.

“Bilbo!” Frodo exclaimed as he came running down the stairs, happy to see his brother again. “I didn’t know you were coming…” Frodo trailed off when he saw his brother. He knew something bad had happened.

“Here’s your tea, sweetheart. Be careful, it’s still hot,” said his mother as he handed him the tea and sat down next to him. “Are you feeling better?” she asked as she wrapped an arm around him and pulled him close.

“Not really,” answered Bilbo. “Can I stay here for tonight?”

“Of course, sweetheart.”

Bilbo remained silent and kept staring at the cup of tea he was holding. He didn’t want to talk about it, but at the same time he knew that he would feel better. “Everyone knows,” he told them just above a whisper. “They all know I’m… pregnant.”

“It’s alright,” Belladonna soothed. “We’ll get through this together. Don’t worry.”

“If you want we can call the school,” Bungo offered.

“No, I don’t want you calling anyone. I just want to stay here. I really don’t want to go back to the mansion.”

Bilbo knew his parents didn’t believe him. They knew there was something more. “Sweetheart, are you sure that’s all? You seemed very stressed when you came home. Does it have something to do with that boy?” his mother asked carefully.

Bilbo remained silent for a moment before nodding. “I don’t want to talk about it.”

“Okay,” Belladonna smiled reassuringly. “When you’re ready you know where you can find us. Would you like something to eat?”

“No, I’m fine. I just want to go to bed.”

“Alright. We’ll see you in the morning.” She pressed a kiss to his forehead before Bilbo disappeared upstairs, Frodo following close behind.

“Should we be worried?” Belladonna asked her husband.

“I’m not sure. But I know that I won’t be allowing any of my sons go near that house ever again. They have caused us enough trouble as it is.”

“We signed the papers,” Belladonna reminded him. “Whether we like it or not we will have to deal with that family in the future.”

“The biggest mistake of my life, giving my grandchild to those people. Not people – monsters.”

“There’s nothing we can do about that anymore,” she sighed and took hold of his husband’s hand to calm him down. “What’s done, is done.”

“When the time comes they’ll get the child, but until then I would appreciate if they would stay as far away from my family as possible.”

:::

Bofur yelped as Thorin grabbed him by the collar of his shirt and pushed him back into the wall. “You!” he growled. “What have you done?!!”

“I didn’t do anything,” Bofur defended as he tried to push Thorin away from him. “I just told him the truth. You had no right to lie to him!”

“What happens between me and Bilbo is none of your business!”

“It is my business. Because unlike you I love him!”

“You have no idea what I feel for him!”

“No, I don’t, but I know you!” Bofur spat back. “I know you. You’re incapable of loving anyone. You’re emotionally constipated. All you do is hurt people around you, including your friends. You are not a King, Thorin. Never were, never will be!”

Dwalin caught Thorin’s fist in the last moment before it would make a connection with Bofur’s face. “Let go of me,” demanded Thorin.

“Let him go, Thorin,” said Dwalin as calmly as he could. “This is my house and the last thing I want Is trouble. You need to cool down. I think it would be best if you leave.”

Thorin couldn’t believe what he was hearing. Dwalin wasn’t on his side. He wanted him to leave. So Thorin did as he was told. He let go of Bofur, and disappeared. Nobody knew where he was and nobody cared. When he came back home few days later everyone acted like nothing had happened.

:::

When Belladonna came to check on her son the next morning, he was still under the covers and it was more than obvious he wasn’t planning to go anywhere.

“How are you feeling, Bilbo?” she asked as she sat down on his bed.

“I feel fine. I was feeling fine yesterday,” he answered and his mother sent him a look.

“Do you want to talk about it?” She knew she was pushing this too far, but she was worried that Bilbo would shut everyone out completely. “Does it have something to do with Thorin?” Bilbo looked at her with surprise. He never said anything. “Frodo,” she clarified. “He believes that something happened between you two.”

Bilbo rolled on his back, trying to avoid answering the question, but then his mother placed a hand on his belly for the first time and Bilbo had to look at her. “Do you want to feel?” She nodded, unsure if that’s what she really wanted. Bilbo pushed the covers away and lifted his shirt so that his belly was exposed before he took his mother’s hand and placed it on his stomach. “You might have to wait a while. The only one who can get it to move whenever he wants to, is Thorin. I don’t know why…”

“It?” questioned Belladonna. “You didn’t want to find out if it is a boy or a girl?”

Bilbo shook his head. “It doesn’t matter because it won’t change anything. The only person who would be happy to know is Mrs. Durin. She wants to know if it’s a boy or a girl so she can decorate the nursery properly.”

Belladonna sighed. “Sometimes I wonder if we made the right decision, letting you decide about the fate of this baby,” she confessed. “I feel like you are too young to be making decisions like that, and I fear that this burden will be too much for you to bear. No parent should be ever parted from their child and I can already see how much this baby means to you.”

“I know what I agreed to,” said Bilbo silently. “I know what will happen.”

“I know you do. But do you fully understand? Will you be able to let go when the time comes?”

Bilbo didn’t answer immediately. “I don’t really have much of a choice.” He moved his mother’s hand on his stomach.

Belladonna smiled when she felt a strong kick against her palm. “Will you be staying home today?”

“I don’t really want to go to school today.”

“Alright. I left you some breakfast in the kitchen in case you get hungry. I have to go now. I’ll see you later.”

“Bye,” said Bilbo before his mother left the room, leaving him alone to his thoughts once again.

And his thoughts immediately wandered to Thorin. He’d told Thorin, in a way, that he loved him. And now this… He was stupid enough to think even for a minute that Thorin cared for him, that this wasn’t just a game. But he was never more wrong in his life. Thorin slept with him because of that stupid bet and nothing more. His hopes that he would have Thorin by his side, even if only for a few months, disappeared into thin air. There was no happy ending for this story.

:::

A few days passed and Bilbo still refused to leave the house. He spent most of the time in his room, coming out only to eat and use the bathroom. He didn’t want to go back to school, at least not yet. The fear of facing reality was too big.

But he couldn’t escape reality, even if he wanted to, because that night it literally knocked on the front door. He didn’t leave his room, but the walls weren’t thick and he was able to hear every word that was said between his parents and Mr. Durin.

“Good evening,” Thráin smiled. “I believe you have something that belongs to  me.”

Bungo, who already disliked the family and hated the man, couldn’t hold back. “There is nothing of yours here!”

“I beg to differ. The child-“

“The child,” interrupted Bungo loudly, “Is still inside my son. _My_ son. And my son does not belong to you! It was his decision to come live with you, nothing of this sort was in the contract, and believe me when I tell you that I forbid my son to come near any of you ever again! He will stay with us, his family, until the child is born. And then you can come to collect what belongs to you. Until then I would appreciate if you would stay as far away as possible from my son and my family!” Bungo felt better after giving Thráin a piece of his mind.

“They would be both safer in our house,” reasoned Thráin as calmly as he could.

“Safe?” questioned Bungo, “Safe from who? I know how to take care of my family. Nothing will happen to anyone. Now if you would please…” he opened the door and waited for Thráin to leave. “And please don’t come back,” was the last thing he said before closing the door. Indeed, it did feel good to do this. He was just hoping that he won’t have to do this again.

Slowly Bilbo came downstairs. “Thank you, dad,” he said quietly. “Thank you for standing up for me.”

“It’s alright son,” he said and pulled Bilbo into a hug, which the teen happily returned.

“I know you were disappointed in me when I told you I was pregnant.” Bungo wanted to speak. “Please let me finish,” quickly said Bilbo. “I know that I let you down, and I’m sorry for that. I’m sorry that you have to deal with all this. I never planned for this to happen.”

Bungo cupped his cheeks and forced him to look him in the eyes. “You could never disappoint me. I was angry, I admit that, but never disappointed in you. You are my son, my greatest treasure, and there is nothing that I wouldn’t do for you.” He hugged him again before he asked: “Will you tell me what happened between you and that boy?”

Bilbo nodded and followed his father to the living room where they sat down. He told him everything that happened, he left nothing out. He started with the party where Thorin and he slept together, and ended with what Bofur told him. Bungo stayed quiet for most of the time, only asking questions now and then when something wasn’t clear to him. Bilbo felt exposed after everything that he told his father, but at the same time he felt better about it. And the best part was, that his father seemed to understand what he was going through. He didn’t offer his advice, because Bilbo didn’t ask for any, but he promised to support him no matter what.

:::

Bilbo knew that he couldn’t stay at home forever and that sooner or later he would have to face reality. His parents allowed him to stay at  home for a week, but then told him that it was time for him to return to school.

He didn’t know what to expect. He knew that everyone will be staring and whispering about him, but other than that he had no idea what would happen. The bus ride to school was awful enough. Frodo was sitting right next to him the whole time, trying to distract him with anything that came to mind, but it wasn’t really working. He could hear them whisper about him. He saw them glancing back and looking at his belly, which was hidden under a large shirt. He wanted nothing more but to become invisible.

He walked to the school as fast as he could, head bowed low so that he didn’t have to look anyone in the eye. If a week ago no one knew he existed, now everyone knew who he was and that he was pregnant. There was no way around it.

“Hello, Baggins,” sneered a boy Bilbo had never seen before, and was now hovering over him as he was going through the books in his locker. “Freak,” he added and Bilbo swallowed hard. There was no way he could fight him off. “I heard that you were Durin’s whore, and that you two managed to produce a bastard. How does it feel to know that you were his whore and nothing more.” The boy’s hand reached toward his belly and that’s when Bilbo pushed him away as hard as he could.

The boy growled before launching himself at Bilbo. He was smart enough to know that hurting a pregnant teen would get him in a lot of trouble since there were too many eyes watching him. He left Bilbo alone, but the contents of Bilbo’s locker suffered the consequences as they ended scattered all over the hallway. The students laughed before moving on.

Bilbo held back a sob as he got on fours and started picking up his things. Some papers were destroyed beyond recognition and some of his books he found in the trash where the other students put them just to make him more humiliated than he was before.

“Here,” said someone and when Bilbo looked up, he saw Fíli and Kíli standing in front of him, offering him his missing pages.

“Thanks,” said Bilbo quietly as he accepted the papers and stood up.

“We are really sorry this happened, Bilbo,” Fíli apologized.

“It was expected,” Bilbo said dryly as he put his things back into his locker. He would arrange his things later.

“Father told us you won’t be living with us anymore,” said Fíli. “Is it true?”

“I’m going to stay with my parents. It’s for the best.”

“That’s okay,” said Kíli. “We can come visit when you have time.”

“I don’t think this is such a good idea, Kíli. I have my things to do-“

“What things?” interrupted Kíli.

The bell rang. “I have to go. I’m already late for my class…”

He disappeared before Fíli and Kíli could say another word.

:::

“Oh, you’re back. Finally!” Valla cried in exasperation when she finally saw her son come back home. “I was so worried about you.”

“Yes, I know by the amount of calls and texts you sent me.”

“Don’t speak to me like that, young man,” Valla warned, and Thorin rolled his eyes. For the first time in ages his mother looked really worried about him. “Now wait!” she ordered as Thorin wanted to go upstairs. “We’re going to talk first.”

“Really?” questioned Thorin. “Now you want to talk? Can’t you just leave me alone like you normally do?”

“You’re being very ungrateful right now,” she warned.

“And do tell what I have to be grateful for? The fact that I have everything or the fact that for the first time in years you actually care about me?!” Valla was taken aback by Thorin’s words. “Father is sick! He’s not been in his right mind for years. For every stupid decision he makes that I have to deal with the consequences of, you just stand by  his side and support him. When was the last time you supported me? Let’s remove the masks and end this charade once and for all!”

Valla’s expression changed. “You have no right to speak to me like that, young man! I raised-“

“Grandma raised me! She was the only one in this family with a clear mind. Grandfather wasn’t in his right mind in the last few years, but she was the one who controlled him. I don’t see you control our father. You allow him to do whatever he wants. You’re afraid to open your mouth in front of him.”

“I’m doing my best-“

“No,” interrupted Thorin once again. “ _I am_ doing my best. I’m trying to save what can be saved. A few weeks ago when he gambled our house, mother, _our_ house, I was the one who had to deal with those idiots to get it back. And I paid a heavy price for it. We still have enough money, more than enough, but if this continues, if father doesn’t pull himself together, we’ll soon be completely broke.” Thorin made a few stairs up before he turned back to his mother. “I mean, we bought this house three times this year, and somehow father always manages to gamble it. So don’t tell me I’m ungrateful, because you have no idea what I’ve been through.”

:::

Thorin returned to school a few days later. No one paid a lot of attention to his return. Now or then he heard some whispers about him, but it was expected. After all, the whole school knew that he slept with Bilbo and that the younger teen was now pregnant.

Speaking of Bilbo. He knew that Bilbo was very angry at him, that’s why he didn’t even try calling. He was hoping to talk to him and explain everything, and maybe, maybe even get a second chance. There was nothing he wouldn’t do to get Bilbo to forgive him. But he knew his chances were slim. How do you even apologize for something like that, and how would he convince Bilbo his apology was sincere? It felt strange not having Bilbo around him. In the last few weeks he spent a lot of time with him, and Thorin felt empty now that he wasn’t around anymore. He missed kissing him, he missed his smile, his laugh, he missed having him close. If there was a way to describe this, one would say that Thorin was falling in love.

His best chances to talk to Bilbo was during lunch break. He assumed that Bilbo would be in the cafeteria with everyone else, but he was nowhere to be found.

“Have you seen Bilbo?” he asked as he sat down at the table his brothers, Ori and Dwalin were sharing.

“I saw him today when I got to school,” answered Ori, “but I haven’t seen him since.”

“Well, I need to find him,” said Thorin and stood up. “If anyone sees him, let me know.”

“Just leave him alone,” sighed Fíli. Thorin stopped and looked at his brother. “I think you’ve done enough. Allow him to be alone. If he wanted company he would have joined us. And he hasn’t. He hasn’t eaten here in days. If he doesn’t want to see us, I really doubt he would want to talk to you.”

“What’s between me and Bilbo is none of your business,” Thorin answered back.

“Was,” muttered Kíli.

“What did you say?”

“I said: was,” clarified Kíli. “What was between you two.”

“We didn’t break up,” argued Thorin.

Kíli sent him a look. “I really doubt he thinks the same. After what happened, I don’t know if anyone would want to be in a relationship with you. I give you points, though. You were together, even if only for a few hours, it still counts.”

Thorin just shook his head before he walked away. He really wasn’t in the mood to listen Kíli playing smart and he really wanted to find and talk to Bilbo.

Luckily it didn’t take him long to find him. Bilbo was sitting on the bench, outside the school, eating his lunch. Thorin gathered his courage before he stepped outside and approached him. Bilbo didn’t lift his gaze when Thorin sat down in front of him, instead he continued eating the sandwich his mother made for him this morning.

“A little cold, isn’t it,” Thorin finally spoke, hoping to get a conversation going. It was a middle of December so it was normal to be this cold outside. Bilbo was wearing his winter jacket, but his nose and cheeks were red, and he probably had his hands icy cold. “Wouldn’t it be warmer and more comfortable to eat inside?” Thorin tried again.

Bilbo swallowed his food before he spoke. “I’ve been bullied enough times this week to know that eating here means that no one will insult me or throw away my lunch.”

Guilt settled deep into Thorin’s stomach. But at least Bilbo was talking to him. “You’re not going to yell at me?” he carefully asked.

Bilbo finally looked up from his lunch. “Why would I yell at you? It’s not like it would change anything. It would only give people more reason to laugh at me, because of how stupid I am.”

“You’re not stupid,” Thorin said quickly. “And I’m really sorry-“

“Don’t be,” Bilbo interrupted. “I’m not. Besides, it’s not your fault. I was the one who believed you, so there’s no one else to blame but myself. I think it was worth it,” he admitted quietly. “I got to spend some time with you, even if now the whole school is laughing at me.”

“I’ll talk with some people,” said Thorin, “and they will stop, I promise…”

“There’s no point. Sooner or later they will stop. I’m not that interesting.” Bilbo stood up and wanted to leave, but Thorin caught his hand and stopped him.

“Can we please talk? Not here... Somewhere private. I want to explain things to you, I want to apologize.”

“You don’t have to,” said Bilbo and pulled his hand from Thorin’s grip. No matter how much his heart wanted to hold it, his brain knew better than to trust Thorin again. “I told you before: I’m not angry at you. You wanted to have fun and I believed you-“

“Now you stop!” demanded Thorin. “Stop acting like you don’t care! Because I know you, and I know how hard this is for you. Stop putting a wall between us! You want this as much as I do. Why don’t you just allow me to show you that I made a stupid mistake when I made that bet with Bofur? I wanted to prove him wrong about you, I wanted to show him how wrong he was. But it turned out that I was never more wrong in my life.” Thorin stepped closer to Bilbo and gently cupped his head in his hand. “Bilbo Baggins, you are the best thing that could have happened to me,” he said, his voice just above a whisper.

Bilbo wanted to believe Thorin’s sweet words, but he was too hurt to understand what he was trying to say. “Well, you’re the worst that could have happened to me,” he said before he pushed past Thorin and went back into school, leaving Thorin alone out in the cold.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I want to thank all who left comments. You encourage me to write chapters faster.


	27. Chapter 27

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big 'thank you' to Chamelaucium, who helped me with this chapter.

“Bilbo,” Belladonna called for probably the fifth time that evening. Bilbo was absent most of the time. He ate his food but most of the time he was just moving it around on his plate. His mind quickly wandered away. Or better said: his mind quickly wandered to Thorin, and Bilbo just couldn’t get him out of his head. “Bilbo!” called Belladonna more firmly this time.

“Hmm, yes, what?” Bilbo finally snapped out of his thought and he looked around. Everyone was staring at him like he’d lost his mind.

“I asked if you were done, or would you like to finish your dinner?”

Bilbo looked at his plate which was almost as full as his mother gave it to him. He liked eating, but for the last two weeks he just wasn’t feeling hungry. He was contemplating telling his mother to wait so that he could force some food in his stomach, but he knew this just wouldn’t do. “I’m full, thank you,” he said and pushed the plate away.

His mother eyed him skeptically before she took the plate. “You know… this has been going on for two weeks now,” she said.

“What has?” Bilbo asked, bored, with nothing interesting to do. Thorin was surely having fun. He was probably…

“You not eating,” interrupted Belladonna his train of thoughts.

“Huh?”

“Huh?” Belladonna repeated. “Don’t play with me mister, you know exactly what I’m talking about.”

“Are you going to start fighting about Thorin again?” asked Frodo all miserable. Listening to another fight about Thorin didn’t sound appealing. They had discussions about this almost every night and it usually ended with Bilbo storming back to his room. Belladonna insisted that Bilbo should talk with Thorin, while Bungo was against Bilbo going anywhere near that boy. And Bilbo wanted nothing to do with him, so listening to his parents argue about Thorin, and speaking about Thorin, and asking about Thorin… He’d heard more than enough of Thorin in the last few days, and he simply had enough.

“Please don’t,” groaned Bilbo and buried his face in his hands. “We’ve had this discussion about a million times. I’m not sulking over Thorin, alright? What happened, happened. I don’t want to talk about it anymore.”

“Then you are going to finish your dinner,” his mother said sternly. “No more excuses.”

“But I’m not hungry,” Bilbo protested.

“See this is what I’m talking about,” Belladonna pointed out.

“Here we go again,” Frodo muttered under his breath.

“If he says he is not hungry, then I believe him,” said Bungo. “I’m not going to force him to eat.”

“He needs to eat,” his wife reminded him. “If not for himself, at least for his baby. What you are doing is not healthy,” she said to Bilbo.

“I’m not doing anything! I’m just not hungry!”

“Just talk to that boy, please.”

“We talked,” Bilbo noted dryly. “It’s best if we don’t see each other anymore.”

“Lie,” Frodo coughed and Bilbo sent him a look.

“Like you would know,” Bilbo snapped.

“The whole school knows,” his brother reminded him. “I really don’t understand why you insist on being such a drama queen.”

“Excuse me, but you are not the laughing stock of the entire school!”

“Boys, that’s enough,” Belladonna tried to interrupt.

“Everyone is laughing at you because they think Thorin used you--"

“He did use me!” interrupted Bilbo.

“… and you are stupid enough to let them be right.”

“Language,” Bungo warned, but Frodo ignored him.

“He’s been crawling after you for almost two weeks now. But no! You are too proud and too stubborn to forgive him!”

“It’s none of your business what I do!”

“Then stop complaining about it! If you really wanted them to stop laughing all you would have to do is accept Thorin’s apology, but no, you’d rather feel sorry for yourself.”

“It wouldn’t change anything,” insisted Bilbo.

“It would! When they saw you together they would stop, because they would see that Thorin didn’t use you.”

“I’m not discussing this with you,” said Bilbo and stood up.

“I believe it would be best if you would stay away from that boy,” said Bungo and Belladonna sent him a look.

“They need to sort this out,” his wife argued. “There has been enough avoiding the problem. They need to talk and that boy better apologize.”

“I’ve heard enough,” Bilbo muttered. He was about to leave when his mother called him back.

“Don’t forget that you have your birthing class tomorrow!”

“I won’t…”

“At six,” she reminded him.

“I know, mum.”

“And take someone with you. Call one of your friends or something.”

Bilbo rolled his eyes. “Yes, because I have so many of them,” he muttered under his breath.

“Drama queen,” Frodo said as he pushed passed him and sent him a look.

“Oh, shut up,” snapped Bilbo before he followed him upstairs.

:::

Frodo let out a sigh next day when he walked out of the school. There he was again, standing by his car for the fourth time this week. He didn’t want to have anything to do with this. This was between Thorin and his brother, but since the latter refused to speak with him and did his best to avoid him, Frodo got to deal with Thorin, now almost on daily bases.

“What do you want?” he asked, annoyed that Thorin was waiting for him.

Thorin ignored the way Frodo spoke to him and got straight to the point. “How’s Bilbo doing?”

“The same as yesterday, I guess,” answered Frodo plainly.

“He still refuses to talk to me, though.”

“Gosh, I wonder why,” Frodo mocked. “It’s not like you made a bet to sleep with him. Oh, wait, you did!”

Thorin didn’t know what to say. “I’m sorry, alright.”

“Don’t need to apologize to me,” Frodo reminded him.

“Please talk to him,” pleaded Thorin. “Tell him I want to speak with him and after that I’ll leave him alone. I just want to apologize and explain.”

“I’ve told him that at least a million times, but he won’t listen. He’s as stubborn as you are!”

Thorin lowered his head. He didn’t know what else to do. “It’s fine. Clearly he doesn’t want to see me again.”

Frodo bit his lower lip as he watched Thorin get back to his car. “Wait!” he said and Thorin stopped and looked back at him. “I’m probably going to regret this,” Frodo muttered to himself. “He has a birthing class today, at six. He’ll be going alone and if I understood correctly you need to have a partner there, so you can corner him there. At least he won’t be able to avoid you.”

Before Frodo even realized what was happening, Thorin pulled him into a strong embrace. “Thank you! You have no idea how happy you’ve made me right now.”

“Let me down,” Frodo protested. “Thank you. And you are driving me home, since Bilbo is probably going to kill me for telling you this.”

“Get in,” Thorin smiled happily.

:::

Bilbo was putting his books back in his locker before he would go home. He did his best to avoid Thorin in the last two weeks so he completely forgot about someone else.

“Hi.”

Bilbo jumped with surprise when he closed his locker and Bofur greeted him. “What do you want?”

“I just wanted to talk to you.”

“You just wanted to talk to me?” Bilbo mocked. “Oh, that’s definitely a change. You want to talk to me. I’m honored.”

“Don’t be like that,” scolded Bofur. “We’re friends.”

“Oh, great!” exclaimed Bilbo. “Another thing I didn’t know. We are friends. That’s just great.”

“We were always friends.”

“I’m not so sure about that.”

“Come on,” Bofur tried. “Don’t be like that. I’m sorry I told you that about Thorin, but it’s true. I wanted you to know. That’s what friends do.”

“No!” corrected Bilbo. “You wanted me to hate Thorin, that’s why you told me. You couldn’t stand seeing me happy with him, that’s why you had to ruin everything.”

“He’s no good for you and you know that. He lied and treated you badly--"

“Nothing that you haven’t done,” remarked Bilbo. “You lied, you treated me badly, oh and let’s not forget: making me look like an idiot in front of the entire school.”

“I’m not Thorin,” Bofur defended.

“You’re right. You are not him. But don’t think you are any better than he is. He lied, you did the same. He treated me badly, you did the same. Don’t think yourself above Thorin, Bofur. You’re the same as he is. He wasn’t the only one who made the bet. You agreed to it as well. So my guess is that if he lost you would never have told me about it and pretended to be happy with me. Yes, you are a real friend.”

Bofur didn’t know what to say. “I was trying to protect you from him--“

“By lying to me,” Bilbo interrupted. “I don’t care if your intentions were good, you still lied to me. I’m angry at you as much as I’m angry at Thorin.”

“Well, I’m sorry for telling you the truth.”

Bilbo sent him a look. “As much as I appreciate your honesty, I just can’t find it in myself to forgive you right now. I just need some time.”

“I understand… If you want someone to talk to, I’m always available.”

“Thanks, Bofur.” He checked the time. “I have to go. I’ll see you around.”

“Bye…”

:::

Bilbo left the house around five thirty. He took the bus to the medical center where the classes were supposed to take place. The last few weeks were interesting. He dated Thorin, he broke up with him, he moved back with his parents… and now he was alone. He missed Fíli and Kíli, he missed having them around. He missed the group. He just couldn’t sit with them during lunch. Firstly, because everyone was staring at him, secondly, because he couldn’t stand them pitying him, and thirdly, because Thorin was there.

He probably didn’t even realize it, but his presence pushed Bilbo away. Of course he tried talking to him every day, but Bilbo was still too hurt to accept his apology. Bilbo knew Frodo was right. As long as he was feeling sorry for himself others would treat him the same. But the problem was that he was hurt. He trusted Thorin and then he found out what really happened. A part of him wasn’t even surprised that something like this had even happened. But the other part of him was really disappointed. He believed Thorin, and his sweet words, but most of all he believed him because Thorin showed him that he really cared. Or this was just one of his schemes.

“What have I got us into?” he asked quietly as he rubbed his swollen middle. Whenever he was thinking about Thorin, which was almost all of the time, the baby was kicking super hard, like a constant reminder that it was there. A part of him and a part of Thorin. A miracle. “But we’ll get through it, I promise. With or without Thorin I’m going to take care of you while you are still with me. I’m sorry I put you through all of this. I guess all this stress isn’t really good for you, but the doctor said you are growing nicely, and that you are healthy, and I could not ask for more than that. I’m going to give you the best I can while you are still with me. And then… then you’ll get to spend time with your daddy. Though I guess you will see him as your brother, but that’s not important. There won’t be a day when I won’t be thinking about you. You are loved and you will always be loved, my little miracle.”

“I would like to invite everyone in,” the instructor called and interrupted Bilbo’s train of thoughts. He looked around. There were seven pairs. They all came together. The mother and the father. He was the only one who came alone. He contemplated asking his mother to come with him, after all he expected that she would be the one with him while he would give birth, but she was called back to work and she couldn’t come with him.

In normal circumstances he would ask Bofur to come, but that was out of the question now. He wanted Thorin there with him, offering him support. Not just because he was the father but because Bilbo wanted him there. In a perfect fantasy Thorin would walk through that door any moment now, excusing himself for being late and then joining Bilbo on the sitting pad, like other partners did. He would be angry at first because Thorin was late, but then he would forgive him and he would melt into Thorin’s warm embrace…

And suddenly the door opened. “I apologize for being late…” Thorin’s eyes quickly scanned the room until they found Bilbo.

“We haven’t started, so you didn’t miss anything,” the instructor smiled as Thorin made his way over to where Bilbo was sitting.

“What are you doing here,” snapped Bilbo the moment Thorin sat down next to him.

“I came to learn,” Thorin whispered quietly, before he offered a smile to the instructor who started talking.

“No you came here to annoy me! You need to leave,” said Bilbo and tried to push Thorin away.

“I’m not going anywhere. Besides, this is a class that requires working in pairs, you need me here.”

“No I don’t,” insisted Bilbo. “Now go away!” he hissed.

“Everything alright back there?”

Thorin offered an apologetic smile to everyone in the room. “Everything’s fine. We are just having a little disagreement here. We apologize for interruption.”

The instructor continued talking and Thorin turned back to Bilbo. “Be nice,” he said as Bilbo gripped Thorin’s thigh and dug his nails into it.

“Leave me alone!”

“Now Bilbo, calm down. The stress is not good for the baby.”

“Argh,” groaned Bilbo. “I can’t believe you! You came here to play smart.”

“No, I came here to talk to you.”

“If you are not leaving, then I am,” announced Bilbo and tried to stand up, but Thorin pulled him back down and he somehow ended in Thorin’s lap.

“Now stay quiet and listen to what she says.”

Bilbo pushed Thorin away and rather awkwardly untangled himself from Thorin and then sat down. “Just so we are clear, I hate you.”

“At least you are talking to me,” Thorin smiled and turned his attention back to the instructor.

They sat in quiet and listened to her lesson for the next few minutes. Bilbo couldn’t help but to look at Thorin almost every minute, and every time Thorin caught him staring and Bilbo wanted to say something to him, Thorin pressed a finger to his lips, indicating for him to be quiet before he pointed back to the instructor. Bilbo was fuming inside. He had no idea what Thorin was playing but he wasn’t going to give him the satisfaction of winning.

“Okay, so now I want you to sit in between your partner’s legs and the lean on him for support. This will help you…” Bilbo stopped listening after that. He saw Thorin smirking and he knew that the bastard was enjoying this.

“Well, you heard her,” smiled Thorin and made space for Bilbo to sit between his legs. Bilbo muttered something under his breath before he moved.

“I want you to relax,” continued the instructor. “Lean on your partner, close your eyes and relax. Let your partner offer you support…”

Thorin was leaning back on his arms, smirking, while Bilbo continued to glare at him.

“You need to lean on your partner,” smiled the instructor and pushed Bilbo gently back, so that he was leaning on Thorin’s chest. “Now close your eyes and relax… Good…”

Thorin used the opportunity to wrap one arm around Bilbo, who immediately sat up. “No touching,” he scolded.

Thorin just shrugged before he pulled Bilbo back down. “This feels familiar,” he whispered in his ear.

“Shut up!”

“Now take a deep breath in… and out… good…”

Thorin once again wrapped his arm around Bilbo.

“Don’t touch me,” he hissed.

“Come on now… relax,” teased Thorin. “Breath in, and out…” Bilbo could feel Thorin chuckle behind him. Thorin was actually enjoying this, and that made Bilbo even angrier.

“I hate you,” muttered Bilbo, and earned himself a kiss on the cheek.

“I can live with that,” smiled Thorin.

:::

“That would be all for today. You all did great. I’ll see you in two weeks.” Everyone applauded as the instructor continued to smile at them.

“That wasn’t so bad,” Thorin commented as he helped Bilbo off the floor.

“It was horrible because you were here!”

“Now don’t be like that. I think we did pretty well together, once you relaxed and allowed me to actually touch you.” Thorin did allow himself to annoy Bilbo, even if just a little. He continued to touch his belly, no matter how many times Bilbo pushed his hand away.

“Very funny,” said Bilbo dryly. “Now let’s go.”

“I was planning to talk to the instructor. She can’t be more than a few years older than I am. And she has a nice ass.”

Bilbo just stared at Thorin with disbelief. Did he just make a comment about the instructor’s ass? He pulled him back the moment he wanted to leave. “No you don’t! You are going with me,” Bilbo ordered and led him out of the room. “And you are driving me home.”

Thorin could help but laugh. “What is it with your family and my car? I’m not your driver,” he teased.

“Huh?” asked Bilbo, who had absolutely no idea that Thorin already drove Frodo home from school.

“Nothing,” Thorin smiled innocently. “I’d be delighted to drive you home.”

Fifteen minutes later Thorin stopped the car in front of Bilbo’s house. The younger teen exited the car without saying a word and Thorin followed.

“You really don’t need to see me home. I am perfectly capable of walking from your car to my house.”

“Oh I insist,” Thorin smiled.

Bilbo hurried to the door and pressed his back to it. “See, I’m home. Now you can go.”

“Aren’t you going to invite me inside?”

“No!”

“And I thought we were having fun,” Thorin continued to tease.

“I don’t need you,” said Bilbo stubbornly when Thorin took a step closer, and Bilbo pressed himself to the door. “I’m perfectly capable of taking care of myself.”

“Never said you weren’t,” answered Thorin. Their lips were now only centimeters apart and it took Bilbo all the strength not to pull Thorin down into a kiss. “I had fun,” Thorin said finally.

“Y-Yes, it wasn’t that bad,” stammered Bilbo, and cursed in his head at Thorin who once again made him incapable of thinking clearly.

 _“Bilbo?”_ came a call from inside. It was Frodo. _“I know you’re here.”_ He could hear his brother coming down the stairs.

“You need to go,” said Bilbo quickly, afraid that Frodo would open the door any moment and see them.

“Will I see you at school?”

“No,” was Bilbo’s immediate reply. He quickly realized that Thorin wasn’t planning on going anywhere until he’ll get what he wants. “Alright,” Bilbo gave in. “I’ll see you at school. Now please go before someone sees you.”

“Promise?”

“Yes, yes, I promise. Just go, please,” said Bilbo and tired to push Thorin away. “Thorin please…”

_“Bilbo? I know it’s you. Why don’t you just come in?”_

Bilbo was panicking inside. A few hours ago he was assuring his family that he was absolutely done with Thorin, and now he was trapped between him and the door. He didn’t know what to do, and before he came up with a better idea he pressed his lips to Thorin’s.

Thorin, taken by surprise, stumbled back and pulled Bilbo with him without breaking the kiss.

“Please go,” said Bilbo just above whisper when they pulled apart. His hands were still resting on Thorin’s chest.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” whispered Thorin.

After Thorin let go of him Bilbo immediately hurried inside and closed the doors shut behind him.

“I knew it was you,” said Frodo and Bilbo jumped with surprise. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, yes, I’m fine.”

“Then why are you breathing so heavily? Were you running,” asked Frodo.

“No… No, of course I wasn’t running. Why would you think that?”

Frodo just shrugged. “Is someone outside? Were you talking to someone?”

Bilbo pressed his back to the door, preventing Frodo to open them. “No, no one is outside. I was just talking to myself, that’s all.”

Frodo just shook his head. “You’re acting weird,” he noted.

“And you are being nosy as always.”

“And you are back to being annoying,” Frodo commented before he went back to the living room.

Bilbo let out a sigh before he relaxed against the doors. Thorin would be the death to him, he thought. But at the same time he wanted to explode with happiness. He could easily forgive Thorin, but where was the fun in that? The least he could do is make that charming bastard work a little to earn his forgiveness. This should be fun.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Wow... The response for the previous chapter was amazing! Thank you so much!
> 
> I'll upload chapter 28 in a few days :D


	28. Chapter 28

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big 'thank you' to Chamelaucium.

Bilbo opened his locker when someone called his name.

“Baggins!”

He didn’t have to turn around to know who it was. “What do you want, Thorin?” He tried to sound annoyed by his presence but he knew he failed completely.

“You,” came a simple reply. Thorin wrapped his arms around him from behind and rested his head on Bilbo’s shoulder as the latter continued going through his locker.

“Well, you can’t have me. I thought we established that yesterday.”

“All I remember from yesterday is your kiss. That’s all,” he whispered in his ear.

Bilbo turned around and looked Thorin in the eyes. “You’re acting weird again,” he reminded him. “I don’t like you when you’re acting weird.”

“Then tell me what I have to do so that you’ll forgive me.”

Bilbo thought about it for a second. “I don’t know. I don’t think there’s anything you can do that I would forgive you.” He was enjoying this game he and Thorin were now playing. He was enjoying it far too much for his liking.

“I’m sure you’ll come up with something.”

“I don’t know if I want to,” Bilbo continued to play. “I enjoy being single.”

“And I enjoy being in a relationship. With you,” Thorin quickly added.

“I’m not even sure if we were together for eight hours.”

“The best eight hours of my life.”

Bilbo just shook his head. “Don’t be cocky, it doesn’t suit you.”

“Really? I thought that was the reason you fell for me.”

“I fell for you because I believed you were a good person,” Bilbo corrected, poking Thorin’s chest.

“Nothing has changed.”

“Everything changed,” Bilbo said. “You lied—“

“And I’m sorry about that,” interrupted Thorin.

“… And I just can’t forgive you so easily.”

“But can you at least try? That’s all I’m asking.” Thorin now had Bilbo pinned back to the lockers.

“I’ll think about it.”

“That’s a start,” Thorin smiled. “Join us for lunch?” He knew that Bilbo was about to say no. “If you say no, I’ll have to kiss you right now to change your mind.”

Bilbo licked his lips in anticipation. This didn’t sound like a bad idea. But he was still angry. Damn the bastard and his charm. “You leave me no choice…”

“It’s better this way. If you think too much you make all the wrong decisions.” Bilbo had to admit that Thorin was right. All the reckless things he did were still the best things that ever happened to him. The bell rang. “I have to go to class,” Thorin said. “I’ll see you at lunch. And don’t try to hide from me, because I will find you Bilbo Baggins. I will always find you.” He placed a kiss on his cheek before he disappeared.

Bilbo let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, when Thorin let go of him. He was trapped for a few minutes, but the funny thing was that he enjoyed being trapped by Thorin. It made him feel safe.

He looked around, only to see a group of students staring at him, and whispering again. And for the first time in two weeks, Bilbo didn’t care what they were whispering about because it was none of their business. This was between him and Thorin and everyone else should just get a life and stop being so interested in his.

:::

“Bilbo!” Kíli exclaimed, happy to see him again.

“Can I join you?”

Everyone nodded and made some space so that he could sit at their table.

“I thought you would avoid us forever,” Kíli said. “But I’m happy that you’re back.”

“Have you talked with Thorin?” Fíli asked carefully.

Bilbo met Dwalin’s eyes, and he knew that he knew everything. It was expected, after all, they were best friends.

“We talked…” Bilbo started, rather unsure. “But we haven’t finished… talking. Let’s just say that things are far from okay between us.”

“Really?”

Bilbo jumped with surprise when Thorin suddenly appeared next to him. “Don’t do that,” he scolded and slapped his arm when Thorin sat down next to him. “You scared me.”

“I noticed,” Thorin smirked. “So what did I miss?” He asked everyone and then turned to Bilbo. “Did you miss me?” he asked and Bilbo just shook his head.

“We were talking about plans for a New Year party,” said Fíli. “Mum and dad are leaving.”

“Really?” Thorin asked and stole a piece of orange from Bilbo, who swatted his hand away and sent him a look. “I spoke with mum this morning, but she didn’t say anything.”

“She told us last night at dinner,” answered Fíli. “I don’t even remember where she said they were going.”

“And you won’t be going with them?” asked Bilbo.

“If we go we’ll get bored to death,” told him Kíli and Bilbo nodded in understanding. The boys’ idea of fun wasn’t spending vacation with their parents.

“So your house is free?” asked Dwalin.

“No, no, no, no,” Thorin protested. He knew exactly what Dwalin was thinking. “Not this year.”

“Come on…”

“Nope. I want to have fun this year and not keep a watch on our house so that it doesn’t burn to the ground. Especially,” he looked at Fíli and Kíli, “when some people don’t understand when I say a few people can be invited, not half of the school.”

“It got out of control,” Kíli defended. “Just a little.”

“We can’t be at my place,” said Ori. “My brothers are coming home and Dori would kill me if I even ask about throwing a party at our house.”

“That leaves us with you, Dwalin,” said Thorin.

“Balin is coming home.”

“He’ll understand. And it will be just us, no one else.”

Dwalin sighed. He knew he would have to agree to this. “Fine. But if you two,” he looked at Fíli and Kíli, “burn down my house with your fireworks, I’m going to kill you.”

“Come on,” Kíli protested. “You can’t celebrate New Year without fireworks. And I’ve been planning this year’s fireworks for weeks now.”

Dwalin just shook his head. Kíli and fireworks were two thing that didn’t go well together.

“How about you, Bilbo?” asked Ori. “How will you be spending New Year?”

“M-Me?” asked Bilbo and cleared his throat. “Well, khmm, Frodo and I usually help mum make dinner, and after that we normally watch television together and wait ‘till midnight. And then we go to sleep.”

“So you don’t visit any relatives or something?”

“No. I mean we would, but they live too far away, and it takes hours to get there by train, so we usually just stay at home.”

“Boring,” stated Kíli. “You should join us.”

“I don’t think it’s boring,” defended Ori. “I think it’s nice to spend time with your family.”

“If you change your mind the offer still stands,” Fíli said and Bilbo nodded.

“How are things between you two?” carefully asked Kíli. “You are talking again, so that must be good.”

“Things are great,” Thorin answered.

“Things are _not_ great,” Bilbo corrected and sent him a look. “They are far from great.”

“Yeah, but we’re getting there.”

“Very slowly, almost not moving,” Bilbo added and Thorin frowned. “Don’t look so surprised, I’m still angry at you.”

Ori had to hide his smile. Thorin looked like a puppy when Bilbo was scolding him.

“But yesterday you weren’t angry at him,” Dwalin piped up.

“Finally, someone,” smiled Thorin. “Someone who understands!”

“How would you know? You weren’t there,” Bilbo pointed out. “Thorin could have easily lied to you. Maybe we had sex in the car and all this is just for show.” Everyone at the table, Thorin included, just stared at Bilbo with disbelief. He quickly realized he went a little too far so he cleared his throat before he continued. “What I’m trying to say is that this is between me and Thorin and I would appreciate if you would all stay out of it. And ignore the comment about the car.”

They all nodded, still shocked from Bilbo’s reaction.

“Don’t be too hard on him,” said Ori and smiled. “You don’t want him to give up, don’t you,” he added and winked. “Walk me to class?”

“Sure.” Dwalin took Ori’s hand before he looked back at Thorin. “I’ll see you in class.”

“We have to go as well,” Fíli started and pulled Kíli up. “See you at home. Bye Bilbo.”

“Bye.”

:::

“You didn’t have to come with me, you know,” said Bilbo as he walked to his class. He was perfectly fine by going himself, but Thorin insisted on coming with him. On one hand Bilbo loved the attention he was getting, on the other hand this felt too good to be true. Maybe Thorin was only pretending so that he would forgive him, and then he would just hurt him again.

“You’re thinking again,” observed Thorin.

“Hm, what?”

“I said that you were thinking again. You always ignore everything around you and you don’t even look where you’re going when you are lost in your thoughts. My guess is that you were thinking about me.” Bilbo’s silence spoke for itself. “I know what I did was wrong,” Thorin admitted silently, “and I know it will take a lot of time for you to forgive me, if you’ll ever forgive me. I don’t want to force you into anything. I’ll happily accept whatever you are willing to give me. Even if you would only want to us to be friends.”

Bilbo sighed. “I don’t know what I want. I knew before, but now I don’t. You and Bofur hurt me. Not because you two lied, but because you made a bet that I was stupid enough to sleep with you. You didn’t even know me, I’m pretty sure you didn’t know I existed, and you made that bet. You didn’t even take your time to know me better, you just jumped to your conclusions. I don’t have a million friends and I don’t drink at the parties, but that still doesn’t give you the right to think so low of me. I thought that you slept with me because you thought I was interesting, or whatever stupid reason I came up with. But I never imagined that you did it just because you thought of me as below you. That hurts Thorin.”

“I never thought it would get us here,” admitted Thorin. “I didn’t plan for thing to go this far. Somehow you managed to get under my skin and I can’t let you go. I never imagined asking you out, or wanting to be in a relationship with you, but now I want all these things. I want you.”

Bilbo opened his mouth so say something, but before he could do so, he saw the same idiot that was bullying him for the last two weeks.

“Freak! You’ll be late for class. Better hurry up, you know you’re getting slow with all that weight. Oh, I forgot, it’s not you – it’s the bastard you carry!”

Thorin’s eyes darkened and Bilbo saw in the corner of his eyes how he clenched his fingers into a fist. “Say that again,” Thorin growled lowly and turned around. “I dare you, say that again.”

The boy froze. He didn’t see Thorin before, but now he was standing few meters away from him. “I meant every word.” He tried to sound brave but he knew he failed completely.

“Thorin,” warned Bilbo silently. “Let it go, it’s not worth it.”

Thorin ignored Bilbo’s warning. “Then I dare you to repeat what you said. Come on now, don’t be shy…”

“He is a freak. An abomi--“

“Thorin!” exclaimed Bilbo when his fist connected to that boy’s face.

:::

“This is great, just great,” muttered Bilbo as he was pacing up and down nurse’s office. “You just had to do that, didn’t you?”

“He insulted you,” defended Thorin and winced in pain when he moved the ice pack on his sore lip. “He was practically asking for it.”

Bilbo glared at Thorin. “That still doesn’t give you the right to hit someone!”

“In my defense, he hit me as well. And it hurts. A lot,” he added.

“You deserved it,” Bilbo said, but his eyes softened. It still felt pretty good that Thorin punched that guy because he insulted him.

“Where is that nurse?” Thorin complained.

“Does it hurt?” Bilbo teased.

“Yes.”

“Poor Thorin,” Bilbo smiled.

“What is taking so long?”

“You managed to hit him pretty badly, so my guess is that she is still dealing with him.”

“I just need something for the pain.”

Bilbo stepped closer and took the ice pack from Thorin. “It doesn’t look so bad,” he said as he got a better look at Thorin’s cut lower lip. “You’ll be just fine.”

“Is that your diagnosis, Doctor Baggins?” Thorin smirked and pulled Bilbo closer so that he was standing between his legs, his hands resting on Bilbo’s hips. “Are you sure you can’t do anything about the pain? I’m willing to do anything to make the pain go away.”

Bilbo raised an eyebrow before taking a closer look. “I’m not sure. Does that hurt,” he asked as he gently pressed his finger to the sore lip and Thorin winced in pain.

“Ouch, yes, it hurts.”

“And this?”

“Ouch, yes… You proved your point,” he said and pulled Bilbo’s hand away from his face. “It hurts.”

“You are a big boy, you’ll live.” Before Thorin could say something Bilbo pressed a light kiss on his lip. “Better?”

“It would be even more if I would get another one.”

“I’m sorry, but that’s all you’ll get.”

“Bilbo Baggins,” said a deep voice, “and Thorin Durin. It’s not really a surprise, is it?” Bilbo immediately untangled from Thorin’s arms when Gandalf entered the room. “In the last few months I’ve seen you more times than in the last four years.” Both teens remained quiet, unsure about who Gandalf was talking about. Most likely both of them. “What happened this time?”

“They got into a fight,” answered the nurse, who just returned from her office. “I already took care of the other boy and called his parents.”

Gandalf eyed Thorin suspiciously before he spoke. “And who was the one who started the fight? Bilbo, would you be so kind to explain what happened?”

Bilbo swallowed hard, before searching for Thorin’s hand and intertwining their fingers. “Well, hmm, it was Thorin who started it. But really that guy was just asking for it.” Thorin just stared at Bilbo with his mouth slightly opened. “He insulted me, he said a lot of awful stuff I’d rather not repeat, and when Thorin warned him he didn’t back off, and this happened.”

“I see,” said Gandalf quietly. “Nonetheless Thorin initiated a fight, and for that the school rules state that he should be suspended for three weeks.”

“I don’t think that is necessary,” Bilbo interrupted quickly. “After all, he was just trying to defend me. He did nothing wrong. And he was never in a fight before, at least not in school. Don’t you think suspension is a little harsh punishment?”

“The boy’s parents will want to know what happened, and they will expect Thorin to be punished,” Gandalf answered calmly at Bilbo’s boldness.

“Then I will demand for him to be suspended for bullying me for the last two weeks. And believe me, I have witnesses.”

Gandalf thought about it for a moment. “Very well then. I’ll talk to the parents and explain what happened. But Bilbo,” he warned, “next time when someone is bullying you, come to my office and we’ll deal with it immediately. I’m on your side, remember?”

“Thank you, Sir.”

“I’ll go talk to the other boy. In the meantime…” he nodded at the nurse who finally checked Thorin’s injury.

“Thanks,” mumbled Thorin.

“Don’t mention it,” said Bilbo nonchalantly.

:::

They were having a quiet family dinner, when Frodo decided to speak. “Thorin got in a fight today,” he announced and Bilbo almost chocked on the soup he was eating. “Because of Bilbo,” he quickly added.

Belladonna patted her son on the back so that he stopped coughing. “Bilbo is that true?”

The silence spoke for itself.

“I knew that boy was trouble,” said Bungo, reminding everyone that he didn’t approve of Thorin. “It’s best if you stay away from him son. And that means you too, Frodo.”

“How do you even know what happened,” Bilbo questioned when his coughing stopped. “You have classes in the other building.”

“Things like that spread fast. Really fast. Is it true that you were called to the principal’s office?”

“No!”

“Oh,” Frodo sounded disappointed. “But Thorin did get suspended for two months for fighting, didn’t he?”

“W-What? Where do you get information like this? People really shouldn’t be spreading lies. And to answer your question, no, Thorin wasn’t suspended.”

“Why did he get into a fight?” asked Belladonna, “And why were you there?”

“Because they’re dating!” exclaimed Frodo and Belladonna’s eyes widened in surprise.

“We are not dating. Really, we’re not.” Bilbo could see his father let out a breath of relief. “Some idiot who was picking on me for the last two weeks decided to insult me and Thorin lost his temper. But the guy is fine, they both are,” Bilbo explained quickly.

“So he saved you like a damsel in distress,” Frodo teased, and if looks could kill…

“Just shut up,” Bilbo snapped. “The principal just came to ask us what happened, nothing more. Thorin won’t be punished.”

“Why didn’t you say something about others picking on you?” asked his mother, concerned about all the things Bilbo was hiding from them lately.

“It wasn’t important. Besides, you wouldn’t be able to do anything about it.”

“Did you thank Thorin for stepping up for you?”

Bilbo, not just Bilbo, _everyone_ was staring at Belladonna in disbelief. “S-Stepping up for me? Thanking him? Have you ever listened when I talked about Thorin? He is being all nice because he wants me to forgive him. It’s just one of his games.”

“That doesn’t answer my question,” Belladonna noted, and looked expectantly at her son.

“I showed him I was grateful… in a way.”

“By kissing him!” Frodo teased and Bilbo turned red.

“What are his plans for New Year?”

Bilbo rolled his eyes. “Why is this important right now? I don’t know… He’ll probably go to a party or something…”

“Well you could invite him here.”

“No,” Bungo and Bilbo exclaimed, while Frodo couldn’t be more excited about it.

“Absolutely not,” insisted Bungo. “That boy is trouble.”

“Then if that turns out to be true, when the night is over I won’t say another word,” his wife countered. “I think we should give him a chance, and then we can judge him. Who knows, maybe he’ll surprise you.”

“I agree with dad,” Bilbo protested. “I don’t want Thorin here.”

“I think this is a great idea,” Frodo piped up.

“No, it’s a terrible idea. I’ll say thank you, but I won’t be inviting him for New Year’s dinner.”

“Don’t be so stubborn, Bilbo,” Belladonna scolded. “Give him another chance.”

“He’s had plenty. That’s my last word. Thorin Durin won’t be coming to our house on New Year’s Eve,” he declared before he stood up and stormed back to his room.

:::

Frodo was waiting patiently for his brother in front of the school, so that they could go home together. He didn’t have to wait long for Bilbo to show up, with Thorin right next to him.

“Hi Thorin,” greeted Frodo and Bilbo rolled his eyes.

“Ready to go home?”

“Aren’t you going to say goodbye to your boyfriend,” Frodo teased.

“He’s not my boyfriend,” Bilbo corrected and sent Frodo a warning glare.

“I can drive you,” Thorin offered. “Fíli and Kíli are already home.”

“That would be lovely, thank you,” Frodo smiled. “Coming, Bilbo?”

“Come, I’ll drive you home,” Thorin said.

“You don’t have to.”

“Your crown won’t fall off your head if you allow me to drive you home you know.”

Bilbo frowned, but in the end he still followed Thorin to his car. For the last few days Thorin had been very nice to him, but Bilbo couldn’t help but worry that all this was just for show.

They drove in complete silence and a few minutes later Thorin pulled over in front of Bilbo’s house.

“Thanks for the ride,” Bilbo said and smiled weakly. “Come on Frodo, let’s go. I have homework to do.”

“Did you tell him?” his brother asked.

“Tell me what?”

Before Bilbo could open his mouth Frodo spoke. “Mum said to invite you over for New Year’s.”

“Oh…”

“You don’t have to come,” Bilbo said quickly when he saw how shocked Thorin was. “She didn’t actually say that you are invited, she just mentioned you and New Year’s dinner. That’s all.”

Thorin turned back to Frodo. “Could you give us a minute?”

“Yeah, sure. Thanks for the ride.”

“No problem,” Thorin said as Frodo closed the doors and now he and Bilbo were alone in the car. “I know when you’re lying, you know. And if you didn’t want me to come, all you had to do is say so. I wouldn’t take it personally. I mean I _would_ , but I would understand your motives.”

Bilbo’s heart clenched at Thorin’s words. He managed to reject him whenever it was possible, but Thorin still refused to give up. “It is a family dinner so…”

“You don’t have to explain… I understand.”

“… Maybe it’s a perfect opportunity for you to meet my parents,” Bilbo finished and Thorin’s eyes snapped up. He wasn’t quite sure if he heard right.

“So, what you are trying to say is…”

“… I wouldn’t mind if you joined us,” Bilbo smiled and blushed.

:::

“Mum!” called Frodo when he entered the house. “Bilbo invited Thorin over for New Year.”

Bilbo muttered something under his breath before he went up to his room.

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> New chapter, as promised.
> 
> Bad news: school started so updates won't be regular. 
> 
> Thank you all for continuous support :)


	29. Chapter 29

**_“There are nine million bicycles in Beijing, that’s a fact. It’s a thing we can’t deny…”_ **

Dwalin knew something was bothering his best friend, but he decided not to say anything. Thorin invited him over, under the pretense that he just wanted to hang out, but Dwalin knew better. Thorin wanted to talk about something. Probably about Bilbo. But whatever it was Dwalin had a feeling they’d be sitting in uncomfortable silence for some time. He was lying on Thorin’s bed, going through a magazine he found in the nightstand drawer, while Thorin did something on the computer.

“How’s Ori?”

Dwalin shrugged. “Fine, I guess.”

“Everything alright between you two?” asked Thorin and Dwalin raised his eyebrow at Thorin’s question.

“Perfect. Why do you ask?”

“No reason,” Thorin lied and quickly turned his attention back to the computer screen.

Dwalin stared at him for a moment before continued going through the magazine.

“And you two will be spending New Year together?”

“For Mahal’s sake, Thorin,” Dwalin exploded, "just tell me what’s bothering you!”

“Bilbo invited me over for New Year,” Thorin blurted out quickly.

“Oh…”

“Yes, oh. What should I do?”

Dwalin eyed his best friend. “You mean you haven’t said yes already?”

“Well… No. He didn’t really invite me, per say. He said he wouldn’t mind it if I was there.”

Dwalin rolled his eyes. “After all that's happened, I would take that as his personal invitation.”

“So what you are saying is, that I should go? I mean, wouldn’t it be weird? His parents will be there, and Bilbo and I aren’t getting along as we used to.”

“It’s a perfect opportunity to show him that your apology is sincere. And tell him the other thing too.”

“About my apology…?” inquired Thorin and Dwalin sent him a look. “Oh, that thing… Don’t you think it’s a little too soon?”

“He said it first. Besides, if you get his parents on your side, you'll find out that Bilbo will forgive you very quickly.”

Thorin thought about it for a second. “I still think this is a bad idea. What would you do if you had to meet the parents?”

“Who cares about the parents! The goal here is to apologize to Bilbo. Don’t worry about his parents. If Bilbo forgives you, he’ll defend you no matter what happens.”

“So should I tell him I’ll come?”

“Yes!”

:::

When Dwalin left Thorin stared at his phone for a good half an hour. It was easy. He would text Bilbo that he'd come. Easy.

But the problem was that it wasn’t easy. He'd never had to deal with anyone’s family before, and the thought of meeting Bilbo’s parents scared him no end. He was sure they were great, but the thing was that he managed to get Bilbo pregnant. Not that the other teen didn’t have anything to do with that, but he could easily see that Bilbo’s parents would blame him for it. Who wouldn’t? Thorin eased his consciousness with the fact that Bilbo wanted him there, and for Bilbo, he would face a fire-breathing dragon.

 _Hey… About the dinner for New Year's... I’ll come._ Thorin sent a text and then waited for a few minutes to get a reply.

_Be here at 6:30._

No answer came after that and Thorin again began to worry if this was a good idea.

:::

A few days passed in a blink, and before he knew it, Thorin was ready to drive Fíli and Kíli to Dwalin’s house where they would spend new year and hopefully not burn anything, while he would be spending it with Bilbo’s family. Their parents left a few days ago, so they were completely alone, doing whatever they wanted without having to answer to anyone.

“Kíli!” Thorin called from the bottom of the stairs, “hurry up, or we’ll be late.”

“Not everyone is nervous about meeting his future in-laws,” Kíli teased as he descended the stairs, but quickly stopped when he saw the way Thorin was looking at him. Maybe it wasn’t the best of ideas to tease his brother.

“What’s in the bag?" Thorin asked and eyed Kíli suspiciously. When he refused to answer, he looked over at Fíli who lifted his hands in surrender.

“Don’t look at me. I had nothing to do with it.”

“Thanks,” muttered Kíli and frowned. His own brother had just sold him out.

“Take it back,” ordered Thorin.

“But…”

“I don’t want any trouble tonight.”

“Ugh,” groaned Kíli as he walked back upstairs. “It’s not my fault you didn’t get laid for a few months.”

“I heard that!”

“Good!” called Kíli back. “I was hoping you would.”

Thorin turned his attention back to Fíli who merely shook his head. “What?”

“Nothing. Just don’t screw this up, okay. This is your last chance…”

“I know,” Thorin answered quickly. “I won’t, I promise.”

 

Kíli took his time before coming back down. He just enjoyed making Thorin more nervous than he already was. Once he returned Thorin drove them to Dwalin’s house, before driving to Bilbo. He was excited to see him, but at the same time he was terrified of the outcome. If Bilbo rejected him, he'd probably do it for good. So Thorin prayed that that wouldn’t happen.

He stopped the car where he always did, when he drove Bilbo home. _You can do this_ , he told himself, though it didn’t help much. For some reason he was still nervous. One last check in the mirror to make sure everything was perfect.

“Here goes nothing,” he said quietly as he walked to the door and knocked.

He could hear someone running and before he knew it Frodo opened the door. “You came!”

“You thought I wouldn’t?” asked Thorin and smiled at Frodo’s enthusiasm to see him.

Frodo just shrugged before he invited him in. “Bilbo, Thorin’s here!”

“I know,” called Bilbo as he came down the stairs to greet his guest. Thorin’s worries disappeared when he saw him. Bilbo wasn’t wearing anything special, but he was glowing, and Thorin was really happy to see him. “Hi.”

“Hi…” he greeted awkwardly.

Bilbo stared at Thorin for a minute, and neither of them said anything. “Are you going to stand there all night? Come in.”

“Thanks,” mumbled Thorin and followed him into the living room, Frodo following close behind. “I brought something,” said Thorin and gave Bilbo a bag, which he accepted immediately. “It’s a bottle of Dom,” Thorin explained at Bilbo’s puzzled expression when he pulled a bottle of vintage champagne out of the bag.

“I noticed… Thanks.”

Before either of them could say something to break the uncomfortable silence they have found themselves in again, Belladonna came from the kitchen, wearing her apron, looking very excited about meeting her son’s ‘friend’.

“Hello,” she smiled warmly, “it’s nice to finally meet you. We heard so much about you. Nothing bad, don’t worry,” she smiled reassuringly when Thorin’s eyes widened in surprise. “I’m Belladonna, Bilbo’s mother.”

Thorin accepted her hand without hesitation. At least one of Bilbo’s parents didn’t hate him.

“And this is my dad,” said Bilbo when Bungo finally joined him.

“Nice to meet you, Sir.” To everyone surprise Bungo accepted Thorin’s hand without any deadly glares, or uncomfortable questions.

“Dinner will be ready in five. In the meantime, you can help prepare the table,” said Belladonna and ushered the boys in the kitchen so that they would help her.

Thorin did as he was asked without any complaints. He followed Bilbo and helped prepare the table under the watchful eye of Bilbo’s mother. He noticed that Bilbo was a little reserved around him, but he attributed that to the fact that this wasn’t awkward and embarrassing just for him, but for all of them.

“Everything alright?” he finally asked.

“Yes,” came a short reply.

Thorin wanted to question him further, but dinner was served and it really wasn’t the best time.

Bilbo remained unusually quiet during dinner, and allowed Frodo and his mother to interrogate Thorin and make him feel welcome and wanted while he and his father kept an ear to the conversation, but in reality didn’t pay a lot of attention.

After dinner a dessert was served in the living room, and that was when Bungo decided to speak to Thorin for the first time. “So, what are your plans for the future?”

The moment his father spoke Bilbo tensed. He had a feeling where this was going and he didn’t like it.

Thorin shrugged. “I haven’t really thought about it, to tell the truth.”

Bungo nodded in understanding. “But I’m assuming you already picked the school you want to go to. After all, you’ll be graduating this year.”

“I will, but I haven’t thought about it. I have time to decide, I have all the options open.”

“Of course. But with a baby on the way-“

“Dad!” interrupted Bilbo. “Don’t do this now, please.”

“With all the respect, Sir,” started Thorin calmly, “I’m sure you know what you signed. A closed adoption doesn’t allow biological parents to contact their children.”

“How convenient for you that only my son gets to suffer the consequences,” Bungo spat back.

“You have no idea what you're talking about.” Thorin was doing his best to remain as calm as possible. He knew coming here was a bad idea.

“I think I have a pretty clear picture!”

“Bungo!” Belladonna warned when she realized where this was going. Her husband disliked the Durins and now he was lashing his anger on Thorin while Bilbo was sitting in the same room, hearing everything that was said. She knew this wasn’t easy for her son.

“You get everything you want, without working for it. You have absolutely no morals at all, and you don’t take responsibility for your own actions. Because of you my son ended up pregnant-“

“I think both Bilbo and I knew exactly what we were doing and I don’t think it’s fair that I’m the only one to blame,” interrupted Thorin, and Belladonna nodded at his words. It takes two to make a baby. “As far as taking the responsibility goes… I didn’t know Bilbo was pregnant until the moment he showed up at our house with my father who informed me of everything. You decided to stay quiet and keep this to yourselves. And I don’t think you have the right to judge me. I accept the consequences of my actions. As I did with the fact that Bilbo is pregnant with my child, the fact that I lied and did horrible things to him, the fact that it was my ignorance that led to all of this… You don’t even know me, so you have no right to judge me this way.”

Thorin took a deep breath before he continued. “You think that I don’t think about it every day? That I don’t dread the moment when my parents will claim my child as their own? That they will raise my own flesh while I will be forced to stay quiet and observe from afar, calling it my brother or sister? You have absolutely no idea what I’m going through…”

Before Thorin could finish Bilbo burst out crying and ran away. He was having trouble holding back his tears while they were talking and soon it was too much of everything. He couldn’t take it. He needed to get away as soon as possible and as far as possible.

:::

Thorin immediately went after him, following him outside the house when Bilbo finally stopped.

“Bilbo…” said Thorin just above a whisper.

“Don’t…”

Thorin stopped and listened Bilbo quietly sob for a minute before he gathered his courage and took off his jacket, draping it over Bilbo’s shoulders. It was cold outside and the younger teen must have been freezing. Bilbo didn’t say anything so Thorin took his arm and turned him around. Tears were streaming down Bilbo’s cheeks so Thorin pulled him into a warm embrace in which Bilbo immediately snuggled into.

“I’m sorry…” he whimpered in Thorin’s chest probably a hundred times, before Thorin managed to calm him down.

“You have nothing to be sorry for,” Thorin told him.

“It’s all my fault… All of it…”

Thorin cupped his cheeks and gently lifted Bilbo’s head up. “Look at me, Bilbo. Please look at me.” Bilbo opened his eyes, which very quickly filled with tears again. “This is not your fault. Don’t ever think this is your fault.”

“If-If I hadn’t stayed quiet things would have been so different,” he explained between sobs. “I never thought that I hurt you as well… I’m sorry… So sorry…”

“You have nothing to be sorry for. Please look at me,” Thorin requested. He wanted to assure Bilbo that this wasn’t his fault. “I don’t blame you. I never will. These things happened because they were meant to, not because we had anything to do with it.”

“I never knew you felt this way,” Bilbo admitted once he stopped crying.

“Now you do. I don’t want you to feel guilty about it, alright? Things are not in our hands anymore. There is nothing we can do about it. We’ll have to live with this for the rest of our lives. But you are strong, you are stronger than you think, and I have faith in you that you’ll be able to put this behind you.”

“I messed everything up, didn’t I? Because I believed you weren’t a good person.”

“You did what every parent would have done in your place. You did what you thought was best for your child. And I understand your reasons. I’m not the most trustworthy person you’ve encountered.”

“But I was wrong,” protested Bilbo. “It just took me some time to realize that.” He hugged Thorin as close as he could. “I’m sorry. Please forgive me.”

“There is nothing to forgive,” said Thorin and kissed the top of his head. “Come, let’s get you back inside. I don’t want you to get cold.”

Thorin wanted to go back inside, but Bilbo pulled him back until their eyes met. “Thorin,” he said quietly, “I don’t want things to end like this between us. Could you perhaps give me a second chance?”

Thorin smiled. “It’s not you who should be asking this, but I. Can you forgive me for everything that I did to you?”

“I forgave you long ago,” admitted Bilbo. “I just didn’t want to tell you because I was angry. More at me than at you. I knew how we met, I wasn’t trying to fool myself. But I saw you change. You are a different person now than you were before, and I’ll gladly take credit for that.” Thorin couldn’t help but laugh. “I know that you would never do anything like that to me now, but understand that I was upset and I reacted… Well, I overreacted. And I forgive you.”

Thorin pulled him into another hug before he led him back inside, only to find Bungo waiting them at the door.

“Sir,” started Thorin, hoping that this won’t be a start of an argument. “I’m sorry-“

“It’s not you who needs to apologize,” interrupted Bungo. “It’s me who should be saying sorry. After everything that happened, I jumped at the conclusions too quickly and I’ve misjudged you. For once I’m happy to admit that my wife was right and I’m sorry.”

He offered Thorin his hand, who immediately accepted it. Bilbo was beaming the whole time, feeling happy with Thorin’s arm wrapped around his waist.

Belladonna ushered them back to the living room where Bilbo found himself comfortable in Thorin’s lap while sipping the tea his mother has prepared him. Once everything settled down Frodo suggested a movie, so the next few hours were spent watching TV.

“Come with me,” whispered Bilbo in Thorin’s ear. The older teen sent him a puzzled look, but decided to follow him anyway. Bilbo led him into the kitchen and closed the door behind them before serving himself another cup of tea.

“You know, you haven’t kissed me today,” he commented, hoping to get a reaction from Thorin.

He didn’t have to say it twice because the moment he said those words he felt Thorin standing behind him. “How rude of me.”

Bilbo smirked and turned around so that he was trapped between the counter and Thorin. “Aren’t you going to do something about that?” he asked sheepishly.

“Maybe…” Thorin nuzzled his nose into Bilbo’s neck and then kissed it gently, slowly making his way up to his jaw and then the nose, placing kisses everywhere except on Bilbo’s lips. Bilbo buried his fingers in Thorin’s hair, hoping to control him, but without any success.

Bilbo was enjoying Thorin’s ministrations until someone cleared their throat. “Countdown is about to start,” Frodo told them before he disappeared.

“We wouldn’t want to miss that, would we.” Bilbo pouted, but still followed Thorin to the living room where everyone was watching the countdown on TV.

10… 9… 8… “Are you two going to kiss?” asked Frodo.

But rather than giving him the answer Thorin looked Bilbo in the eyes and waited a few seconds so that the year ended before he kissed him.

“Happy New Year!” exclaimed everyone, but Bilbo and Thorin didn’t even hear them. They were too lost in their passionate kiss to notice anything. Bilbo allowed Thorin to pull him as close as possible and deepen the kiss.

“You can stop now,” Frodo protested and they pulled apart both smiling.

Thorin rested their foreheads together, their lips almost touching. “I love you,” Thorin whispered, and pressed a quick kiss to Bilbo’s lips.

“I love you, too.”

“Khmm,” Bungo interrupted. “Hate to interrupt…”

Bilbo pulled away from Thorin so that his father could wish him a happy New Year, while Frodo did the same with Thorin.

“Happy New Year!” smiled Belladonna and place a kiss on Bilbo’s cheek.

“Don’t hurt him,” Bungo warned Thorin.

“Dad!”

“I won’t, I promise,” Thorin assured him.

“Then you are always welcome here.”

Bilbo quickly found his way into Thorin’s loving embrace, but not before pulling him down into another kiss.

“I have to call Fíli and Kíli, and Dwalin…”

“Don’t.”

“Why not?” asked Thorin, confused by the fact that Bilbo didn’t want him to call his brothers and best friend.

“We’ve been here the whole evening. Maybe it wouldn’t be such a bad idea to go to Dwalin’s.”

“Can I come?!” Frodo interrupted.

Bilbo rolled his eyes before looking at Thorin. “I don’t think Dwalin will mind if he comes too.”

“Yes!” Frodo jumped with excitement. “Mum, mum, can I go? Please,” he whined.

“I’m not sure it’s a good idea, sweetheart.”

“But…”

“I will drive him back home,” offered Thorin. “Or he could just sleep at my place and I’ll bring him back later.”

“Please mum…”

Who could say no to those puppy eyes? “Fine. You may go. But listen to your brother and Thorin, alright. No causing trouble.”

:::

Thorin parked the car in front of Dwalin’s house, before they entered the house together.

“Thorin!” called Dwalin the moment he saw him. “You have no idea how happy I am to see you here. You too, Bilbo,” he added when he saw him holding Thorin’s hand. “Safe to assume everything is back to normal between you two?” Bilbo smiled and nodded. “It was about time!”

Bilbo left Thorin alone with Dwalin so that he could talk to others. The first one who approached him was Ori, who was smiling happily as if he was expecting that he and Thorin would get back together. “I knew it, I just knew it,” he kept repeating. “You two are meant to be.”

“Thanks, Ori,” smiled Bilbo.

“Would you like something to drink? There is orange juice in the fridge if you are thirsty.”

“I’m fine, thank you. I see that Kíli haven’t got a chance to burn this house down.”

“Not yet,” laughed Ori. “Maybe he was just waiting for you to show up. I know he managed to smuggle something here. I just know it.”

“Bilbo!”

“Speaking of the devils,” said Bilbo, and both he and Ori laughed.

“You came!”

“Of course I came. Now you can stop yelling. I hear you perfectly.”

“Oh, sorry…” He looked to the other side of the room where Thorin was having a conversation with Dwalin, while looking at Bilbo. “And you are back with my brother!”

“Well, I’m not really sure if we are officially back together, but he told me he loved me so that must count for something.”

“He told you he loves you?! That’s amazing Bilbo, I’m so happy for you,” smiled Ori and hugged him.

“Dwalin knew,” hiccupped Kíli.

“What?”

“Thorin told Dwalin he loves you,” clarified Kíli. “While they were arguing about you. Dwalin accused him of being a coward…”

“And you know about this because…”

“… I was eavesdropping,” Kíli announced proudly before taking a large sip from his cup. “Maybe it wasn’t the best of ideas to tell you that.”

“Maybe,” laughed Bilbo. “You better hope I don’t tell Thorin about it.”

“You wouldn’t!”

Bilbo shrugged before taking the plastic cup from Kíli’s hand. It was more than obvious that Kíli had a little too much to drink. Instead of arguing with him, he called Fíli for help and after a few minutes Kíli stopped fighting them and lay down on the couch and watched his brother and Frodo play video games. Bilbo in the meantime had a chance to talk with Balin, who he hadn’t seen since the last time he was visiting. It looked like Balin was truly happy that Thorin found someone who made him happy.

Without drinking too much alcohol, no one was in the mood to party until the morning. They had fun, that much was obvious, but they were also tired. And when Thorin caught Bilbo dozing off on the couch he decided to go home. He suggested driving them home, but Bilbo didn’t want to leave him so they all returned back to the mansion. Frodo was also with them. There was no way he was going to let this opportunity pass.

“Where am I going to sleep,” asked Frodo as they were walking upstairs. Kíli was still wobbling a little, but managed to walk on his own.

“You can sleep in my room…” Bilbo offered.

“Or any other room you like,” Thorin finished.

“If I sleep in your room, where are you going to sleep?”

Fíli coughed awkwardly before he excused himself. Kíli following close behind.

Bilbo looked at Frodo and his younger brother immediately understood where would he be spending the night. “Mum and dad wouldn’t like it.”

“That’s why you’ll stay quiet.” Bilbo had the last word before he led Frodo to his bedroom. He then borrowed some clothes from Fíli, so that his brother wouldn’t have to sleep in the clothes he wore the whole day. Even though Fíli’s clothes were a little too big on Frodo at least they were comfortable. Bilbo told him where Thorin’s room was before taking some clothes out of the closet – luckily everything was still the way he left it – before returning to Thorin’s room.

“If I get scared can I wake you up,” asked Frodo, who was a little afraid of sleeping alone in such a big bed.

“Yes. You know where to find me. Or Fíli, if you don’t find me.”

“I think I’ll go to Fíli,” decided Frodo. “I don’t want to catch you and Thorin having sex.”

Bilbo turned red before quickly bidding him goodnight and hurrying down the hall to Thorin’s room.

“You won’t believe what Frodo just said,” he told Thorin after he closed the doors behind him and rested his back against it.

“He thinks we are having sex.” At Bilbo’s confused expression Thorin couldn’t help but laugh. “Don’t worry, it’s completely normal. Fíli asked the same thing a few years ago when Dwalin and Ori slept over and they wanted to sleep in the same room.”

“He’s eleven,” argued Bilbo.

“They grow up much faster than we did. Don’t worry, we are not going to scar him for life, he won’t see us do anything.” Bilbo wanted to ask something but Thorin spoke first. “No matter how much fun having sex sounds fun right now, I’m too tired, and so are you.”

Bilbo yawned before nodding. He was really tired and he and Thorin hadn’t talked about having sex, so it could wait. He went into the bathroom to change and brush his teeth before he joined Thorin under the covers and snuggled close to his pregnancy pillow that was lying between him and Thorin.

Thorin frowned when he saw Bilbo pull the pillow close. He was hoping to have Bilbo all for himself, but now that annoying thing was between them. “How I missed this,” Bilbo mumbled and snuggled comfortably into the soft pillow. “You really don’t know a good thing until it’s gone.”

Thorin stared at him for a minute before he spoke: “Bilbo, love… Don’t you think there is something else that would appreciate snuggling with you more than this pillow?”

“No…”

Thorin now wasn’t sure if Bilbo was teasing him or if he was being serious. “I would like to cuddle with you. And I would appreciate if you would detach yourself from the pillow.”

“Okay,” came a husky response that made Thorin aware that Bilbo was already half asleep. Without any difficulties he pulled the pillow away from Bilbo and threw it on the floor. Missing something to hold on to, Bilbo immediately snuggled closer to Thorin an allowed him to pull him even close as two strong arms wrapped around him.

“Night…” was all he was able to say before sleep took him.

:::

When Bilbo woke up the next morning he had absolutely no idea what time it was. He noticed that the curtains were still closed… and that Thorin was nowhere to be found.

“Thorin?” he called, voice thick with sleep.

No response came. The bathroom door was opened so if Thorin was there he would have heard him. But no, Thorin wasn’t there. Apparently Thorin didn’t see anything wrong with the fact that he abandoned him. That he left him sleep, while he was doing god knows what. Bilbo was going to have words with him. They were together now, so he had every right to be angry because he was left alone on their first night together.

He got out of the bed, reached for one of his jumpers, before he made his way downstairs, determined to show Thorin how he didn’t appreciate being left alone.

But the closer he got to the kitchen, the more clear it became that everyone was already there, eating, while he was left alone in Thorin’s bedroom.

“Hi Bilbo,” greeted Frodo the moment he saw him enter. “Did you sleep well?”

Bilbo noticed Thorin standing at the counter smiling warmly at him. “I did, thank you for asking. But I didn’t enjoy waking up alone.”

Thorin knew that Bilbo’s answer was aimed for him. He stepped closer and wrapped his arms around the younger teen’s waist and placed a kiss on his lips. The boys sniggered, but he decided to ignore them. “Good morning,” he smiled lovingly at Bilbo, who continued to pout. “How are you?”

“You left me alone,” accused Bilbo while poking a finger into Thorin’s chest. “And you came down here to have breakfast, and you don’t eat…”

Thorin silenced him with a kiss. “You'd have gotten breakfast in bed if you'd waited.” Thorin told him, and at that moment Nola returned with a new bottle of syrup.

“Oh…” Only now Bilbo noticed the tray with pancakes and orange juice, that would be his first breakfast in bed if only he'd waited. _Stupid._

“But since you're here, we're all going to eat together.”

Bilbo couldn't help but feel a little disappointed that they would be eating with everyone else, but he got over it very quickly. It was fun having breakfast with his friends, family and his boyfriend. That was actually the best part.

“I called mum and dad,” told him Frodo. “They were a little worried because we didn’t come home, but they didn’t mind that we spent the night here. And I didn’t tell him that you slept with Thorin,” Frodo added just to make Bilbo blush.

“I have to say that it makes me very happy to see you two finally together,” Nola commented as she joined them. “You two really took your time.”

“It wasn’t my fault Thorin is so slow,” answered Bilbo teasingly. “It took him a few months to admit that he likes me.”

“You weren’t much better,” added Fíli and the whole table laughed when Bilbo frowned.

“He was being an ass, that’s what he was! Pigheaded idiot-“

“Who loves you,” finished Thorin. “Don’t forget that.”

“We were trying to point out whose fault it was that it took you so long,” Bilbo reminded him.

Thorin realized it was better to let Bilbo win than to argue with him. “My fault,” he agreed and leaned over so that he could kiss him.

At the beginning Bilbo smiled into the kiss, but after a moment he pulled back an eyed Thorin suspiciously. “You just said that so that I would stop, didn’t you? You actually believe that it wasn’t your fault. I can’t believe you!”

“No, I agree, it was my fault, not yours.”

Bilbo looked at him with disbelief. “The nerve!” He stood up to leave, but Thorin caught his hand and pulled him back, and Bilbo landed in his lap.

“Let go,” he ordered, while pouting like a small child.

“You look adorable when you're pouting,” Thorin commented and Bilbo slapped his arm. “About letting you go: I don’t think so. You just go to my room and continue to sulk there. It was my fault, but it was also yours. The reason why I agreed was simply because I didn’t want to start a fight so early in the day. Now can we please stop talking about whose fault it was and enjoy breakfast together?”

“Not my fault,” added Bilbo before reaching for his plate. Since Thorin told him to stay where he was, which currently meant sitting in his lap, Bilbo decided to listen and eat breakfast like this. At least he was comfortable.

:::

“ _Bilbo_ ,” called Frodo from the other side of the door, “ _Dad called. He said we need to go back home. They want to have dinner with us._ ”

Bilbo groaned at the interruption. They spent the whole day at Thorin’s house. While Frodo was playing video games with Kíli and Fíli in the living room, he and Thorin were spending ‘quality’ time together. That included a lot of kissing, and biting and touching, and some sleeping, and a lot of lazy kisses when neither of them was feeling particularly in the mood, or they have just woken up from their nap and they were too lazy to do anything else except lie on the side end exchange languid kisses.

At the moment what they were doing wasn’t so innocent anymore. Thorin was on top of Bilbo, completely shirtless with untied pants that were already pushed down a little. He was supporting himself on his arms while they were having a make out session. Bilbo ran his fingers probably a hundred times over his chest and over his muscular stomach. He seemed so fascinated by it that Thorin didn’t want to say anything about it. Also, Thorin was almost sure that Bilbo had managed to leave a few marks on his back while he was trying to pull him down so that they could kiss deeper. And also Thorin knew there was a hickey on his neck that Bilbo made and then proudly told him about it. Stating that now there was no doubt to whom he belonged.

“ _Bilbo!_ ”

Bilbo groaned and broke the kiss. “Coming!” he called back and then placed a quick kiss on Thorin’s lips. “I’m sorry love, but we’ll have to continue this some other day.”

“I could drive Frodo home and you can stay here,” offered Thorin, before taking in Bilbo’s appearance. It was more than obvious what they were doing, especially with all those bite marks on his neck, his swollen lips, and his ruffled hair.

Bilbo traced his finger over Thorin’s lower lip. “I would love to stay here, but I think it would be better if I go home. You don’t want my parents to think you are a bad influence on me, do you? Besides, if I don’t go home there a big chance Frodo will tell them I slept in your room.”

“Yeah, but it’s not like we haven’t done this before.”

“Well, now it’s different,” reminded him Bilbo. “Now we are together, and,” he added, “my parents know about it. The first thing they’ll assume is that we had sex, and I’m not sure if they are ready to accept that so soon.”

“I think they know how babies are made, Bilbo.”

“It’s still different. But if it makes you feel any better I would love to stay in your bed.”

Thorin smirked before giving him a kiss. “And I would be more than happy to have you here.”

“I can come tomorrow if you want,” Bilbo offered.

“I’m going out with Dwalin, remember?” Bilbo pointed a warning finger to his face. “Yes, I know, and I won’t forget or get carried away, I promise. Trust me.”

“Oh, I trust you,” said Bilbo, “but I don’t trust others around you. No funny business, okay?”

“Okay.”

“ _Bilbo!_ ”

“I really need to go.”

Thorin nodded and got off of him, and reached for his shirt. “I’ll drive you home.”

:::

“Where is Bilbo,” asked Bungo when Frodo walked in alone.

“He is still smooching Thorin, or trying to say goodbye. I guess both…” He wanted to add how annoying his brother was when he was all happy, and when he was constantly exchanging glances with his boyfriend, but he decided to stay quiet.

Bungo opened the front door, only to see Thorin shoving his tongue in his son’s throat where everyone could see them. _Teenagers these days_ , he sighed before clearing his throat loud enough to get their attention.

Bilbo turned around to say: “A minute,” before he pulled Thorin back down again.

“ _Khmm_ , I think that was quite enough,” said Bungo, feeling a little uncomfortable watching his son having a make-out session in the middle of the street. “Son, I think that’s enough. Dinner’s ready.”

“Coming,” said Bilbo to his father, hoping that he will go back inside so that he will get a moment alone with Thorin, but Bungo didn’t move. He stayed right where he was, with front door opened, waiting for his son to come in.

“I have to go,” he told Thorin. “I’ll see you in a few days, okay?”

“I’ll call you and we’ll talk,” said Thorin before kissing Bilbo one last time and telling him he loved him.

“Love you, too,” smiled Bilbo, before he finally let go of Thorin, and hurried inside. But not without glancing back a few times to see his boyfriend standing by the car, waving him goodbye.

_**“…Like the fact that I will love you ‘till I die.”** _

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big 'thank you' to Chamelaucium (I would add a link, but I still haven't figured out how to do it). She makes sure this is readable super fast. It's usually me who spends weeks thinking about updating and never being happy with it.
> 
> I know this feels rushed, but it's unbelievably hard to write 'let's get back together after everything that happened'. At least I tried.
> 
> In the next chapter Bilbo and Thorin will be actually 'doing' something :P


	30. Chapter 30

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> WARNING: M rated chapter!

**_**WARNING: M rated chapter!** _ **

* * *

 

**_“À la recherche du temps perdu”_ ** _  
(In Search of Lost Time)_

The next two weeks were almost too perfect to be true. Bilbo and Thorin saw each other almost every day, and if they didn’t they talked on the phone. No one seemed to mind that they were together. Quite the opposite - everyone was genuinely happy about it, but they still didn’t enjoy watching them snog during lunch, or basically every time they found some time.

Kíli told them to get a room a few times, and they did. Most days Bilbo would end up in Thorin’s room where they would make out, and then Bilbo would complain that he once again didn’t do anything for school and that it was all Thorin’s fault. And then he would say that he would never come again, but when Thorin asked him the next day if he wanted to come, Bilbo followed him without saying a word.

Thráin and Valla said nothing when they started seeing Bilbo in their house again. Thráin actually seemed extremely pleased to see him, saying something about being safe? Bilbo didn’t really know or understand, but he also didn’t care. All that was important was Thorin who held his hand every day and led him to his room, where he would push him on the bed and kiss the life out of him. That was all that mattered.

And if Bilbo wasn’t complaining neither was Thorin. There was nothing more exciting than having Bilbo underneath him, responding to his every touch and kiss. It felt like he brought him to life every time they kissed. Bilbo shivered every time he ran his hands down his sides, he arched into contact every opportunity given, and he tried to pull him as close as possible. As a rule Thorin’s shirt came off first, and every time sooner. Bilbo once had his hands under Thorin’s shirt before they even entered the room. Talk about needy.

They got to the point where Thorin’s pants were pushed slightly down so that Bilbo could play with the elastic band of his boxers. But that was it. They managed to achieve that in a few days and then everything stopped. Bilbo didn’t want to remove any piece of his clothing and Thorin didn’t want to push him into something he didn’t want. Clearly Bilbo wasn’t ready for the next level, which meant sex.

Oh, the forbidden word. If Thorin slipped and accidentally said anything about it Bilbo lost his eagerness and the game ended – for the next half an hour or so. It was a little confusing that Bilbo didn’t want to hear anything about it, but on the other hand he more than enjoyed rolling his hips against Thorin’s where the friction felt good. And Thorin knew it felt good because he could see it and feel it through Bilbo’s pants.

The truth was that Bilbo wanted it as much as Thorin did, but his parents thought differently. They insisted that Bilbo must come home every night and that he shouldn’t spend as much time with Thorin as he did. And there was the talk about sex, which came too late, and made the whole thing awkward again. He was with child so sex had to be involved at some point. But even though he was angry at them most of the time because they said it would be best if he and Thorin didn't spend every minute together, he had to admit they were partly right. He and Thorin were rushing things as much as they could. Having spent a lot of time arguing and ignoring each other they had lost a lot of precious time and now they were desperately trying to make up for it.

But sadly all the lost time could never be brought back so they decided to make the best of what little time remained.

Thorin asked Bilbo to sleep over several times, only a few of those times actually involved having sex, other time he asked simply because he wanted to have Bilbo close. But the younger teen rejected every single one of his offers, brushing Thorin off with some lame excuse about having school work and studying, stating that he spent the whole day with him and managed to finish absolutely nothing for school.

But Thorin still asked the same question every day until finally Bilbo said yes to staying overnight. Or did he?

He said fine, before he and Thorin would start arguing about it. Thorin was trying to point out that he had already done his homework and that there was no need to study more than necessary, and then Bilbo argued back, making Thorin list another few things that would prove him right, when Bilbo suddenly said _fine_. The word that Thorin understood as his confirmation to being right and not his acceptance to sleep over, so he dropped the subject. He would try again tomorrow, and if he didn’t succeed he would try the day after that…and you can see where this was going…

Bilbo understood his ‘fine’ as saying yes to sleeping over. So when Thorin kissed him goodbye to go to his class nothing seemed odd. He knew from before that Thorin knew how to pick his battles with him.

And so nothing seemed strange when he texted Thorin that he would go home after school. He would go home, tell his parents very carefully that he'd stay over at Thorin’s and then he would leave.

And then Thorin started to play dumb. Bilbo thought it was cute when they were ‘having fun’, but now it really wasn’t funny.

_So I won’t see you today?_ Came a text from Thorin a few minutes after he sent his.

_Thorin, don’t play dumb…_

The response he got was: _?._

It looked like Thorin got the message so he didn’t bother to reply. He ignored his mother’s disapproving look and went over to Thorin. The plan was to sleep over, and not do anything under the covers of that soft bed, except kiss, that was always allowed. So Bilbo went over, firmly decided that he wouldn’t allow Thorin to lure him into his bed. He had enough willpower to tell him no as many times as necessary. There wasn’t any need to worry. He knew Thorin and he knew that Thorin wouldn’t push him to do anything he wasn’t willing to do. At least not yet.

:::

When he entered the house he was greeted by Nola who seemed surprised to see him.

“Hello, I didn’t expect to see you today.”

“Thorin didn’t say I was coming?” asked Bilbo.

Nola looked surprised before she spoke: “Thorin isn’t home. He left about ten minutes ago. You just missed him.”

“Oh…” Bilbo didn’t expect that. Thorin would normally wait for him, and now he didn’t even know where he’d gone. “Do you know when will he be coming back?”

“He didn’t say.”

“Right… I’ll just wait for him in his room. He should return soon, I guess.”

He went to Thorin’s room and made himself comfortable on the bed before he pulled a book out of his bag and started reading. For some reason he’d decided to bring it with him, and he was never more grateful to have something to busy himself with. He wondered when Thorin would come back, and he kept glancing at the clock on Thorin’s nightstand, but time refused to go faster.

Bilbo didn’t want to be the _annoying_ , or _controlling_ boyfriend and for that reason he refused to call Thorin to ask him when his royal ass was planning on coming home. It was Friday night and they were both free and Thorin invited him over and now he wasn’t here. This was just disrespectful. Bilbo contemplated the idea of going home, but that would just give his parents the opportunity to interrogate him what happened. No, he'd stay and wait for Thorin to come back, whenever he came.

At six, when he was called to dinner Thorin still didn’t call, nor there was any indication that he would be returning anytime soon.

It wasn’t much of a surprise that without Thorin present, Thráin had absolutely no one to argue with and the family, plus Bilbo, could enjoy their meal together without any incidents. Bilbo was able to have a conversation with Thráin as a normal person. They talked about school, and Thráin asked about his future, what he wanted to do, what he wanted to become, and his plans to get there. Bilbo knew it was pointless to lie, Valla and Thráin understood what was going to happen in a few short weeks. His life would change, and not entirely for the better. No matter what would happen his life would still go on.

When the clock turned eight Bilbo had had enough.

:::

“Your phone is ringing,” said Dwalin. “I thought you said Bilbo wasn’t the controlling type and now look what’s happening. He's no better than Ori - he’s checking up on you.”

Thorin sent him a look to shut up before he answered the call. “Hey baby, what’s up?”

_“What’s up!? You dare to ask me what’s up!?”_ When Thorin’s expression fell Dwalin couldn’t help but smirk. He was right. Of course he was right. There were million things wrong in a sentence that said: Thorin and Bilbo were together.

“I don’t understand,” said Thorin, confused by the fact that Bilbo was angry at him.

_“Oh,”_ mocked Bilbo, _“he doesn’t understand! How convenient. Let me tell you what I don’t understand. For starters where are you at the moment?”_

Thorin wanted to hit Dwalin so hard right now and wipe that smug smile from his face. He was actually enjoying this.

“I’m with Dwalin.”

_“And what are you doing with him, if I may ask?”_ Bilbo snapped.

“I don’t understand why is this so important right now, or why you’re yelling at me.”

_“Don’t change the subject and answer my question!”_

“I really don’t understand-“

_“Thorin, I swear if-“_

Thorin knew where this was going. “We went running and now we’re in fitness,” he interrupted quickly.

_“Oh, great. So spending time with your best friend is perfectly acceptable reason to leave me waiting for five hours!”_

“Now wait a minute. I didn’t leave you waiting-“

_“You asked me to come over, did you not?”_

“And you said no-“

_“No I didn’t, I agreed to come. And I’ve been waiting for hours. If this is your idea of proving your point… Well, you crossed the line and I will be going home.”_

Thorin sighed. This would be a disaster if he allowed Bilbo to leave angry. “Give me a couple of minutes and I’ll come.”

_“If you’re not here in ten, I’ll go home,”_ Bilbo told him before he hung up.

Thorin just stared at his phone for a second before cursing loudly.

“You’ll learn,” teased Dwalin. “Soon you’ll know when he'll call to check on you.”

Thorin sighed before he reached for his car keys. “I have to go before Bilbo decides to break up with me. Again,” he added before saying goodbye and rushing home.

:::

Bilbo could hear Thorin run up the stairs and a few seconds later his boyfriend finally showed up.

“Well, this is a nice surprise,” Thorin smirked when he saw Bilbo on his bed. “I really didn’t expect to come home and find you in my bed.”

“It’s not funny,” said Bilbo and looked Thorin directly in the eye. “You left me waiting here for hours-“

Thorin sat down on the bed and took Bilbo’s hand in his. “I didn’t know you were coming.”

“You asked me to come!”

“And you said no, like always.”

“No,” corrected Bilbo, “I said yes.” Thorin only shook his head. He clearly wasn’t agreeing with this. “You asked me to come-“

“And you said no,” Thorin finished.

“But then I said fine.”

“That was about the argument-“

“No, that was about coming over. I was still right, and I thought it would be better just agree with you so that you would stop being annoying. And I asked you if you were free today and you said you had nothing to do and I thought we would spend some time together.”

Thorin nodded. “You texted me you were going home-“

“It was more than implied that I would be coming here in a few hours and I did.”

“I’m sorry, but it wasn’t obvious to me. And you didn’t answer my text.”

“Regardless, you still left me here alone for hours so that you could spend them with Dwalin!”

“And what would you have me do? Stay here and do nothing?”

“You could have at least called me to let me know what you were doing,” accused Bilbo.

“I thought we agreed we wouldn’t be controlling each other,” Thorin reminded him.

“This is different!”

Before Bilbo would get a chance to yell at him, once again for no reason, Thorin decided to silence him with a kiss.

“Thorin… this… is… not… going… to… work,” he said between kisses.

“Obviously, if you are still talking,” said Thorin before kissing him again. Bilbo responded to the kiss before he pushed Thorin away so that he could look him in the eyes.

“This is all your fault,” he accused.

“It was a misunderstanding. Can we agree to that?”

Bilbo considered saying yes, but then quickly changed his mind. “It was _your_ fault.”

Thorin rolled his eyes. It was pointless to fight with him right now. “Alright,” he agreed, “it was my fault,” before kissing him again.

But once again Bilbo pushed him away. “You're just saying this so that I'll stop. You don’t actually believe it’s your fault!”

“No, I don’t,” Thorin confirmed, and Bilbo looked at him disapprovingly. “But if I don’t agree with you, you're able to drag this on for hours and I would really like to do other things than listen to you telling me it was my fault.”

With that he sealed their lips in yet another passionate kiss that finally managed to make Bilbo stop talking.

Pinning Bilbo down to bed was an easy thing to do, because Bilbo melted into the kiss and allowed Thorin to do whatever he wanted. Thorin climbed on the bed, getting a better access to Bilbo’s mouth and neck. His tongue was immediately allowed into Bilbo’s mouth, and Thorin smirked when Bilbo released a needy moan and pulled him closer, his hands finding their way under Thorin shirt and onto his back.

Thorin then slowly kissed the corner of Bilbo’s mouth, the made his way on his jaw and then to the neck. He knew how much Bilbo enjoyed this, especially when he immediately tilted his head giving Thorin better access to his neck.

“You're sweaty,” he commented as he ran his hands down Thorin’s spine. “And you taste salty,” he added when he placed a series of kisses from Thorin’s shoulder to his mouth.

“I was working out,” Thorin reminded him and kissed him again. Every kiss more demanding than the previous one, every kiss more amazing.

“You should take a shower,” Bilbo suggested, before gently biting Thorin’s lower lip.

“Only if you join me.”

Bilbo shook his head before wrapping his arms around Thorin’s neck and pulling him down. It took him a few minutes but Thorin finally gave in and parted his lips enough so that their tongues could meet. Bilbo always tasted so sweet. It was like a drug to Thorin, he never had enough of it. Thorin was always so gentle with him, but at the same time his kisses were hot and passionate.

He felt one of Thorin’s hands ran down to his belly and then his hips, slowly going under him and squeezing his butt, before continuing its way down his thigh. He was soft and huge, but Thorin didn’t seem to mind.

“You really should take a shower,” Bilbo repeated and ran his fingers through Thorin’s hair.

“Fine,” Thorin grumbled and reluctantly pushed himself off the bed. “Join me?”

Bilbo quickly shook his head. Taking a shower with Thorin was wrong, a voice in his head kept repeating.

“Come on, I don’t bite.”

“No,” insisted Bilbo. “It wouldn’t be right.”

“Okay. If you change your mind you know where you can find me.”

Bilbo watched Thorin take some clean clothes out of his closet before he went into the bathroom and closed the doors.

Bilbo waited a minute to hear water running, and the rolled on the bed and pulled a pillow close to himself. Why was it so tempting to join Thorin in the shower. He had to bite his lower lip. He wouldn’t be going in, no he wouldn’t. He made a promise to himself that he and Thorin wouldn’t have sex so early in their relationship and he wasn’t planning on breaking that promise.

But this was _so_ hard. Thorin would eventually come out of the shower and then they would continue where there left off… Strictly speaking seeing someone naked didn’t count as sex, and while they were making out they did far more inappropriate things than they would be able to do if they would share a quick, innocent shower. He had seen Thorin naked, they had already had sex… and joining Thorin in the shower would be just a foreplay to their make out session. Nothing wrong with that.

What to do next, that was the question.

Shower and Thorin, those were the two words playing in Bilbo’s head.

What the heck, he’d already made a lot of stupid decisions, this would just be added to the long list of his mistakes.

He got stripped out of his clothes as fast as he could before wrapping a huge towel around himself, just in case Thorin changed his mind.

He quietly entered the bathroom and closed the doors. It was warm inside and Bilbo could smell Thorin’s shampoo. This was bad idea, he thought, but no matter how much he wanted to run out he kept walking toward the shower. Even through the steamy glass he was able to see Thorin’s muscular back. His eyes went lower and lower, trying to remember every inch of Thorin’s skin.

“Thorin,” he said just above whisper, his voice indicating that he was really nervous.

Thorin suddenly turned around, and found Bilbo standing on the other side of shower door, a white towel wrapped around him. His mouth watered at the idea of discovering what was beneath it. He swallowed a lump in his throat before opening the door and offering Bilbo his hand.

The smell of Thorin’s shampoo intensified when Bilbo was greeted with the view of Thorin’s front. How he didn’t notice how big that _thing_ was before now, was beyond him.

He slowly looked up and met Thorin’s eyes. There was no childish gleam in them, they were beyond that in that moment. What Bilbo could see was love, adoration, trust. Every single one of his cells in his body was drawn to that man, and Bilbo had to admit he wanted it too.

He dropped the towel and accepted Thorin’s hand without breaking eye contact. There was no need to be ashamed of anything, because in Thorin’s eyes he was perfect. All the flaws disappeared and this glorious moment was created between them.

Thorin guided him under the shower and Bilbo shivered when the first drops made contact with his skin. He felt Thorin run his hands down his arms before placing a kiss on his lips.

“I love you.”

Three simple words that made Bilbo’s heart beat faster. “I love you, too.”

He kissed him again, and again, savoring this perfect moment. Hands explored skin, fingers trying to remember every curve, skin yearning for more contact. Lazy kisses that became hot and demanding. Thorin held him as close as possible, enjoying their moment together.

When they finally broke the kiss Thorin smiled before offering Bilbo a bar of soap. Now they had another reason to explore each other’s body. Bilbo ran the soap bar first over Thorin’s front then over his back, teasing when the opportunity arose. When it was Thorin’s turn to return the favor he first ran his hands gently over Bilbo’s belly, their child growing safely inside it. Bilbo was so sensitive, he responded to every touch with a shiver or a low moan…

Once they were done they returned back to kissing under a hot shower. Nothing was rushing, everything was just at the right pace for both of them.

Bilbo was blushing happily when Thorin led him out of the shower and immediately wrapped a towel around him. He made sure Bilbo was warm and comfortable before wrapping a towel around himself, barely big enough to cover his private parts. Bilbo blushed even more at the thought of seeing Thorin naked.

“What?” smiled Thorin and dried Bilbo’s hair as much as he could with a towel.

Bilbo huffed at the sight of his curls that looked like a bird’s nest after Thorin was done. “Nothing… just reminiscing.”

“Care to share about what?” Thorin asked and wrapped his arms around Bilbo from behind before resting his head on his shoulder.

“Inappropriate things,” Bilbo blushed and he could see Thorin smirk in the mirror.

“Very inappropriate things…” he teased and Bilbo just hummed in response. “I don’t think I ever enjoyed a shower so much. I guess I never had the privilege to share it with someone special.”

“The sight really was extraordinarily enjoyable,” Bilbo commented.

“I could say the same.”

Oh, for god’s sake! Now would be good time to stop blushing like a maiden. Bilbo had to admit, Thorin knew his way with words.

“Let me show you how much I love you,” Thorin whispered in Bilbo’s ear, and the younger teen’s knees almost lost their strength. Thorin was suggesting they do… well, _that_. And Bilbo wanted it. After all that had happened he desperately wanted it. “Please,” was said in his ear before he felt hot breath under his ear and then a gentle kiss, and then another and another, down his neck to his bare shoulder.

He was still clutching the towel that was wrapped around him, but he was slowly losing his mind. Nothing mattered except him and Thorin.

“Yes…” he threw his head back and allowed Thorin to gently trace his fingers lower and before he knew it he was once again nude in front of him. He could see Thorin trace fingers over his body in the mirror. He could feel his hot breath on his skin… He was coming undone.

Thorin placed a series of kisses down his neck. One hand was resting on his belly and the other was going lower and lower, and before Bilbo even realized, Thorin lifted him up and carried him out of the bathroom.

The cooler air in the bedroom brought him back for long enough that he was safe in Thorin’s arms. He wrapped his arms around his neck and allowed him to carry him to bed. He was panicking and excited at the same time, because this, whatever this was, was happening.

Thorin gently put him on the bed and Bilbo automatically reached for him, immediately missing his source of warmth. But Thorin walked to the doors and locked them before walking back to the bed and dropping the towel.

Bilbo swallowed the lump in his throat and reached for Thorin once again, pulling him closer until he was on the bed between his thighs.

“Nervous?” Thorin asked and Bilbo frantically shook his head, trying to convince them both he was fine. He wasn’t fine. He was screaming inside, but somehow Thorin gave him courage and when the older teen leaned down to kiss him, Bilbo once again forgot why was he nervous in the first place. He buried his fingers in Thorin’s still wet hair and pulled him down, deepening the kiss.

It took a few moments before the found a comfortable position to continue what they were doing. With Bilbo’s belly between them Thorin did his best to allow Bilbo to pull him as close as he wanted, but at the same time keeping his weight off his belly.

“There’s- there’s lube in the drawer,” said Bilbo between breaths as he pushed Thorin back so that he could speak.

“I know,” chuckled Thorin, “I put it there.”

“Shouldn’t you…”

Thorin pushed himself up and then reached for the top drawer, blindly searching for what Bilbo asked for.

“…And a condom ,” Bilbo added and then bit his lower lip. Thorin looked at him for a second before continuing his search, firstly fishing out a bottle of lube and then a condom.

“You know you can’t get pregnant, don’t you?” It was meant to sound as a joke, but they both knew what he was trying to say.

Bilbo ignored him and reached for the bottle, focusing his eyes on the back label to avoid looking at Thorin.

“We don’t have to do this, if you don’t want to,” Thorin reassured him, sensing that Bilbo was nervous and refused to admit it. “I can wait…”

“No, I want to do it… It’s just that… I don’t want to…”

Thorin nodded. He understood, in a way, what Bilbo was trying to say. “We’ll take it slow, okay?”

Bilbo nodded before allowing him to kiss him again.

Thorin did as he promised, he was taking it slow. Even if that meant a very long foreplay. He pushed the fact that he didn’t have sex for the last few months aside and decided to do everything in his power to make this as pleasurable for Bilbo as possible, as if trying to make it up for the first time they were together.

Bilbo’s hands were at the beginning buried in his hair or resting on his shoulders, but as things progressed and Bilbo relaxed, his hands became more daring, reaching for everything that would make Thorin moan lowly. And Bilbo enjoyed that. He enjoyed it very much when Thorin gripped his hips harder, as if trying to prevent for reaching anywhere else.

“Aren’t you going to touch me?”

“Can I?” asked Thorin for reassurance that Bilbo was okay with this.

“It would be most welcome.”

Thorin smirked at Bilbo’s bravery before kissing his lips and then moving to his nipples, over his belly, down to Bilbo’s, this time, erect and leaking member.

Bilbo propped himself on his elbows so that he could watch what Thorin was doing, but lost all his strength the moment he felt Thorin’s warm mouth around the tip of his cock. His head met the pillow and his eyes rolled backwards. Thorin definitely knew what he was doing. Painfully slowly, taking him in… the wetness and warmth enveloping his member. And there was the tongue… Bilbo never thought he would feel the need to come so fast. In a few short minutes Thorin managed to bring him to the edge, and if it wasn’t for his heavy panting Thorin probably wouldn’t have stopped.

“You alright?” Thorin asked as he came back up to kiss him.

Bilbo nodded quickly with his eyes closed, while trying to even his breathing and calm his rapidly beating heart. “Too close.”

“I thought you enjoyed it,” Thorin smirked and Bilbo slapped his arm.

“I almost came!”

“That was the point, wasn’t it?”

Bilbo scowled and Thorin couldn’t help but to press a quick kiss to his lips. “You did it on purpose!”

“Of course I did it on purpose. We’re having fun and the point is to enjoy it. Now tell me, did you not enjoy it?”

Even though Bilbo looked away he could tell that Thorin was smirking. _This was his plan all along!_ “I did,” he admitted quietly.

Rather than saying anything Thorin leaned down and kissed him.

Soon they were back to having a make out session, only this time they were completely naked and Bilbo was much more daring than he was before. His hand explored Thorin’s chest, then his hard stomach, and then his hand went even lower.

Thorin could feel him smile into the kiss as the small fingers wrapped around his heavy member and gave it a few strokes. He fought hard not to arch into contact and allowed Bilbo to do whatever he wanted. “Enjoying yourself, aren’t you?” he asked when Bilbo gently bit his lower lip.

“I’m just teasing,” Bilbo answered and then pushed his tongue into Thorin’s mouth making him give a low moan. He gave Thorin a few more strokes before reaching for lube and almost shoving it at him.

“Bossy,” commented Thorin as he sat back up and opening the bottle. “How do you want to do this?” asked. Bilbo didn’t answer him; he just laid back and pulled Thorin on top of him.

Thorin immediately went back to kissing Bilbo and squeezing everything that was within his reach and Bilbo did the same. They enjoyed a few more minutes of foreplay before Thorin decided to move things on.

Bilbo froze the moment he felt Thorin’s finger teasing his entrance. “I love you,” Thorin said to help him relax.

And Bilbo did relax. He relaxed enough for Thorin’s finger to slid easily in, but then tensed up again at the intrusion. Thorin did his best to distract him with kisses until Bilbo was moving of his own accord on Thorin’s finger. Soon a second and third were added and each time Thorin waited patiently until Bilbo relaxed and started enjoying what they were doing. After all the most important thing to him was that Bilbo enjoyed this as much as possible.

Bilbo wanted to protest when Thorin pulled away from him. He was just starting to enjoy it and Thorin stopped. He wanted to voice his complaint when he saw Thorin reaching for condom, tearing it open and then rolling it down onto his member.

“You sure you want to do this?”

Bilbo nodded in response.

“When you’re ready,” Thorin breathed and Bilbo nodded again. He lifted his hips up and guided Thorin’s member to his entrance.

Thorin took a deep breath and slowly pushed in. He felt Bilbo’s grip tighten on his shoulders but he couldn’t stop because Bilbo had his legs wrapped around his waist and was pushing him in until Thorin was buried to the hilt.

Something was wrong. No matter how many time Bilbo assured him that he was okay with this, Thorin knew that he wasn’t entirely truthful. Now he had Bilbo under him completely still with his eyes shut.

It didn’t hurt, it was just a little unpleasant. But the feeling brought back memories he had buried a long time ago. Once again he was in a room with Thorin. They were having sex and everything seemed fine; he loved Thorin and Thorin was nothing but perfect so far, but then things changed. He _knew_ what Thorin was after and he knew he didn’t care about him or his feelings; he would just have to endure this and hope it would be over soon.

“…Bilbo, please, open your eyes. Bilbo look at me. Love, I’m here with you and I love you.” Thorin was panicking a little. Bilbo was completely still with his legs still around his waist. He knew it was too soon, but Bilbo had been so willing and… “Bilbo, please, open your eyes. Love…”

Thorin’s pleas were finally heard because Bilbo slowly opened his eyes and allowed tears to fall freely down his cheeks. Thorin was here, this wasn’t a memory. But this Thorin was gentle and loving and… perfect.

“Are you okay?” Thorin asked worriedly. “Are you hurt?”

“No, I’m fine,” said Bilbo and wiped the tears away. “I’m sorry…”

“You have nothing to be sorry for. I hurt you-“

“You didn’t hurt me. I’m just…”

“Scared,” offered Thorin and Bilbo nodded. “Why didn’t you say something?”

“Because I was afraid you may turn me down. I want you. I want you to tell me that you love me, I want you to hold me close as we make love and I don’t want to think about anything else except you and me.”

Thorin wrapped his arms tighter around Bilbo’s smaller form and then placed a kiss on his lips. “I love you,” he whispered.

“I love you, too.”

Bilbo sniffled a little before stealing a quick kiss and rolling his hips experimentally. It didn’t just feel good, it felt _right_. Here, now, with Thorin. He wouldn’t want it any other way.

Thorin slowly pulled back and then pushed back in, trying to find the rhythm that was most enjoyable for both of them. It didn’t take long before Bilbo met each one of Thorin’s thrusts and Thorin had a feeling he wouldn’t be able to last much longer.

He shifted Bilbo a little.

“What are you –“ Bilbo wanted to protest but he wasn’t able to finish his sentence because the thrust Thorin gave him was much deeper and he hit that spot that made him see stars.

Thorin placed sweet kisses down his neck and all Bilbo could do was try not to moan too loudly. He would be embarrassed for life if anyone would hear them.

“T-Thorin... I-I am… I can’t…”

Thorin, who was trying really hard not to come so quickly, immediately knew Bilbo was close. He reached with one hand between them and started stroking Bilbo’s member. It didn’t take long before Bilbo came, covering both of their stomachs. Thorin helped him ride out his orgasm before increasing the speed a little, Bilbo’s convulsing walls milking an orgasm out of him not even a minute later.

Thorin pulled out and collapsed on his back next to Bilbo who immediately intertwined their fingers.

“What?” he asked completely out of breath as he looked at the younger teen who was smiling happily.

“I love you,” smiled Bilbo.

Thorin managed a smile before he relaxed into the bed. He needed a moment to catch his breath. He felt Bilbo shift closer and pull off the condom, before tying it up and disposing it in the waste basket near the bed.

“We should do this again.”

Thorin didn’t miss the teasing tone in Bilbo’s suggestion. It was more than obvious that Bilbo was enjoying him like this - completely undone and out of breath.

“Mhmm… Maybe in a few hours…”

Bilbo chuckled before moving closer, allowing Thorin to wrap an arm around him and place a kiss on his sweaty forehead.

:::

They laid later with their legs intertwined; Bilbo with his back pressed firmly against Thorin’s chest, and Thorin’s arm wrapped over him so that Bilbo could still hold his hand.

“You’re unusually quiet,” Thorin noted when Bilbo absentmindedly counted the fingers on his left hand for the tenth time. “What are you thinking about?”

“That the shower we took was for nothing…”

Bilbo could feel and hear Thorin laugh. “We could shower now if that’s what you’d like.”

“No,” Bilbo looked over his shoulder at Thorin, “it’s perfectly fine where we are now. Besides, you never know, maybe tomorrow morning we’ll want to do it again.”

Thorin let out a huff before kissing his shoulder. He was slowly dozing off and he had trouble keeping his eyes open.

“Thorin?”

“Hm?”

Bilbo managed to turn around with some difficulties before he snuggled closer to his lover. “Can I ask you something?”

“Mhmm.”

“How was it for you… I mean this… Did you like it?” Bilbo asked quietly.

Thorin leaned closer and pressed their lips together. “Why are you asking this now?”

“Because you have experience and you know… you know what you like and what’s good and what’s not… and I just want to know…”

“It doesn’t matter,” Thorin interrupted Bilbo’s rambling. “They weren’t you.”

“But I was-“

“Perfect. You were perfect. And I’ve never been happier about it.”

Bilbo bit his lower lip. “So it was worth a few months long without sex?”

“More than worth it,” Thorin reassured him and Bilbo beamed at his answer.

“Good. I’m happy that we both agree.”

Thorin raised any eyebrow at that.

“Obviously I’m a better choice than some random-“

He wasn’t able to finish because Thorin tickled him and he jumped with surprise.

“I’m better because you love me,” Bilbo finished after making Thorin stop.

“Always and forever,” Thorin assured him before they both slowly drifted off to sleep.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Real life (read school) and me trying to avoid writing smut delayed this chapter for a few weeks.  
> So April means exams every week. Who's excited?  
> I will try to update, but I'm not making any promises.
> 
> There has been a poll created on FF.net about the gender of the baby. As promised I'm allowing you to decide. You can leave you vote in comments or on Tumblr. For now this is not so important, but it would be nice to know what would you like to see. All that have been reading my stories know what I would choose.


	31. Chapter 31

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A big 'thank you' to Chamelaucium, who does an amazing job with everything I write :)

**_"And there’s a silent storm inside me looking for a home._ **   
**_I hope that someone’s gonna find me and say that I belong…"_ **

Thorin hadn't had such a good sleep in a very, very, _very_ , long time. There were times when Bilbo stayed and they slept together but that was far off from what he was feeling right now. His muscles were pleasantly sore and he was just feeling tired enough to lie in bed for a few more hours. Not to mention he was spent after just one round.

He never stayed with anyone after they had sex, always dreading the awkward moment of waking up in the morning and facing reality. What could he possibly say? _Thank you for sleeping with me_? No, that wouldn't have worked. Who would even want to hear something like that in the morning; and what could you possibly say to a person you spent an evening, okay maybe an hour flirting with, and then before you know it you’re both naked and, well…

But this was Bilbo who was next to him, his Bilbo. And that meant that things wouldn’t be awkward because there was no reason for it. They knew each other and this wasn’t just a hookup. They were together, they had decided to be together and because of that Bilbo had every right to be in his bed, even if that meant waking him up, accidentally or not.

The moment Thorin stirred Bilbo withdrew his hand from where he was caressing his cheek. He tried to stay still and not wake Thorin up, but he just could help himself. His boyfriend was beautiful when he slept. Not to mention completely naked – and Bilbo always blushed at the thought of seeing Thorin naked. Or at the memory of what they were up to the night before.

Thorin, still half asleep, reached over to Bilbo’s waist and pulled him closer, not missing the fact that he was dressed, when he clearly remembered him being completely naked when they went to sleep last night.

Bilbo did his best to move as close to Thorin as possible before placing a kiss on his lips. He could feel Thorin smile as he returned it.

“Morning,” mumbled Thorin and slowly opened his eyes. Bilbo was completely awake and looking at him expectantly. “How did you sleep?”

“Very well,” Bilbo answered quietly, knowing that Thorin was still waking up. “You?”

“The same.”

Bilbo smiled wider when he felt Thorin move his hand on the side of his belly waiting to feel their baby move.

“You’re dressed.”

It wasn’t a question, but Bilbo understood what Thorin was trying to say. “I needed to pee and I just couldn’t walk around naked, could I.”

“So you borrowed one of my shirts?”

Bilbo blushed. “You don’t mind, do you?”

Thorin didn’t mind. Seeing Bilbo wearing one of his shirts always turned him on. Before Thorin was given a chance to reply he felt the baby move and he smiled before whispering another ‘hi’ to Bilbo’s lips and kissing him.

“It’s nine,” Bilbo pointed out once they pulled apart.

“So?”

“Nothing. It’s late, that’s all.”

“We’re allowed to sleep in.” Thorin rubbed his eyes before continuing: “You’re not tired?”

“I’m fine,” Bilbo smiled as he noticed that Thorin was studying him. “I really am,” he assured him. “And I’m also very happy right now.”

“No discomfort then?” Thorin asked.

Bilbo smiled, but didn’t answer immediately and Thorin got worried for a second that something was wrong.

“I feel fine, don’t worry,” Bilbo assured him and allowed himself to kiss him again.

“You hesitated.”

“No I didn’t,” Bilbo argued.

“Yes you did. Were you in pain?” Thorin asked cupping Bilbo’s cheek in his hand. “Are you uncomfortable now?”

“I’m fine,” he said in a more high pitched voice that he wanted, but Thorin was being annoying. And it looked like he wasn’t planning on letting this go until he heard what he wanted to hear, and that meant telling the truth. “I was not in pain, nor am I feeling any pain right now. But I can’t really say that I don’t feel what we were doing last night.” He quickly continued before Thorin had a chance to speak: “I feel fine. It feels right.”

He silenced Thorin’s next attempt to speak with a kiss, which quickly became more heated and Bilbo let out a whine when Thorin’s tongue brushed his. Thorin, more than happy with the sounds Bilbo was making, couldn’t help but smile.

“This. Is. Not. Funny.” Bilbo pointed his finger at Thorin’s chest when he noticed how happy he was with himself.

“Not funny at all,” Thorin agreed. And before he knew it Bilbo pushed him on his back and straddled his hips.

Thorin let out a laugh when he saw Bilbo’s face.

“You’re being mean,” Bilbo scolded.

“The horror,” Thorin continued to laugh. He rested his hands on Bilbo’s hip and met his eyes. “You being horny and letting out those amazing needy sounds. You have no idea what that does to me.”

Bilbo’s ears turned red but he refused to let Thorin be right this time. “ _I_ am being horny? _I’m_ needy?” he asked in a teasing tone. “I’ll show you needy!”

He was determined to wipe that smug smile from Thorin’s face. He would do everything to make Thorin take back his words…which meant making him beg for his release. He leaned down to kiss him, but was unable to do so due to the fact that his belly was in the way.

Thorin couldn’t help but burst out laughing when the realization hit Bilbo that he wouldn’t be able to show him how wrong he was. Bilbo let out a huff of annoyance as he rested his hands on Thorin’s stomach for support.

“You can stop now.”

“Oh, the look on your face,” laughed Thorin, “priceless.”

“Ha, ha, ha. Very funny.”

Thorin finally stopped laughing and looked at the younger teen. “You wanted to kiss me?”

Bilbo just sent him a look. It was more than obvious what he wanted to do.

In once swift motion Thorin sat up and sealed their lips together in a hot kiss.

“I would be able to pull you up if you were wearing something.”

“Don’t you like what you see?” asked Thorin as he was placing kisses down Bilbo’s neck.

“I love it,” Bilbo said and pulled Thorin back up by his hair so that he could kiss him. “I love you.”

“I love you, too.”

“I know.” Now it was Bilbo’s time to smirk. He was wearing one of Thorin’s old t-shirts, but it was too big for him and it almost reached his knees, and his underwear. But his boyfriend was still naked and Bilbo managed to make Thorin hard again by just rolling his hip and teasing his nipples while they were kissing. Thorin didn’t even notice the younger teen’s plan until he saw how Bilbo was looking at him.

“Oh…”

Bilbo’s smile became wider when Thorin realized that that was his plan all along.

“Are you planning to do something about this?” he asked, hoping that Bilbo would now be willing to help with those sorts of problems.

“No.” Bilbo’s answer was short, firm and held a teasing tone and before Thorin could react, Bilbo was already off the bed out of his reach.

“Bilbo,” Thorin growled lowly at his boyfriend. He knew he deserved this, but Bilbo was just being cruel to leave him like that.

“Thorin,” purred Bilbo back and blew him a kiss.

“You little minx!”

Bilbo just offered an innocent smile.

Suddenly Thorin jumped out of bed and ran after him. He thought he would be able to catch him, but the pregnant teen smartly ran to the door and out of the room, and Thorin, being completely naked didn’t dare to go after him.

“That’s cheating.”

“That’s thinking smart,” replied Bilbo with a cheeky grin.

“Come back here.”

“No. I’m going downstairs to find something to eat because I’m hungry.”

“Please,” Thorin almost whined.

“No,” said Bilbo and wiggled his butt at Thorin before disappearing. “I know you want it, I know you need it… Come and get it,” he sang teasingly as he walked downstairs.

:::

In the week that followed Bilbo and Thorin didn’t stop teasing each other which meant that everyone around them were rolling their eyes and looking away every time they forgot they weren’t alone in the room. Bilbo was excellent at teasing at Thorin at getting what he wanted. Which most of the time meant dragging Bilbo back home and to his room and having his way with him. Not that the younger teen was complaining.

They were spending more and more time together which meant that Thorin was more than welcome – actually Bilbo insisted on him coming to his birthing classes. And so Bilbo found himself sitting between Thorin’s legs, as instructed, trying to relax and be close to your partner, and all that other stuff that they were told but neither of them listened.

Bilbo and Thorin were enjoying spending time together which meant that a lot of kiss and inappropriate touching was included. Luckily they were sitting in the back but that didn’t meant they were quiet.

Thorin had his hands on Bilbo’s belly and he was kissing his neck while Bilbo had his fingers buried in Thorin’s hair. Occasionally he let out a quiet moan, breaking the silence.

“Everything alright back there?” the instructor asked when she noticed they were making out instead of doing an important exercise.

Bilbo turned red from embarrassment and said nothing.

“Perfectly fine,” answered Thorin.

The instructor smiled and then approached them, helping Bilbo into a position he was supposed to. “Let’s try to relax and focus on our breathing, shall we.”

Bilbo nodded in agreement and waited for the instructor to turn her attention to the others, before turning back to Thorin and kissing him. It was an unspoken promise of what will happen once they were done here.

:::

After the class Bilbo insisted on going home for dinner, and who was Thorin to deny him anything. He parked the car in front of the house and then Bilbo almost dragged him in.

“Hi dad,” Bilbo greeted the moment they stepped in.

Bungo was sitting in the living room watching the news. He watched Thorin help his son out of the winter coat he was wearing before greeting him. It had only been a few days since the last time Bilbo was home but Bungo could swear that his son’s belly was getting bigger every day.

When Belladonna heard her son in the living room she immediately came to see him.

“Bilbo,” she smiled and pulled him into a hug.

“Hi, mum. What’s for dinner?”

Belladonna and Thorin couldn’t help but smiled at Bilbo’s interest in food, while Bungo warned him about manners.

“I’m making something you’ll like.” Bilbo mouth watered at the thought of what his mother was preparing. It already smelled delicious. “Would you like to help?”

“No. We’ll be in my room.” He was about to lead Thorin upstairs when his mother stopped him.

“How about you two stay here.”

“We haven’t spent much time together lately,” Bungo continued.

“But-“ Bilbo wanted to protest, but Thorin stopped him with a gentle squeeze of his hand.

“We should stay here. You can help your mother and I’ll-“

“Thorin!” they all heard Frodo call from upstairs.

“And I’ll stay with your father and brother.”

Bilbo didn’t want to do it, but he still nodded and kissed his boyfriend in front of his parents so that they would feel uncomfortable, before following his mother into the kitchen. Thorin stayed in the living room talking about this and that with Bungo, while Frodo just sat there and listened and occasionally asked a questions.

“How are you, sweetheart?” asked Belladonna.

“I’m fine,” Bilbo sighed as he continued to chop vegetables. He was hungry and tired, and the last thing he wanted right now was an interrogation from his mother. And that was exactly what was happening.

“How’s school?”

“It’s fine, mum. The same as always.”

Belladonna could sense how irritated her son became after just a few simple questions. “And Thorin?”

“He’s fine,” snapped Bilbo and Belladonna looked disapprovingly at her son.

“Have you two been fighting?” she carefully asked.

“No, mum! We haven’t been fighting, okay?”

“I’m just trying to understand-“

“Understand what?!”

“Lower your voice, young man,” his mother warned. “You’ve been on edge since you entered this house. I just have a feeling there is something bothering you.”

Bilbo put the salad bowl on the table with more force than he intended too. “You invited me over for dinner-“

“I told you to come home,” corrected his mother firmly. “You’ve been spending way too much time at that house.”

Bilbo rolled his eyes. “I live there.”

“You live here, and will continue to do so,” his mother told him, leaving no room for argument.

Bilbo stared at his mother with disbelief. “You can’t tell me what to do!”

“You are seventeen, which means I _get_ to tell you what to do. And I’ve witnessed enough outbursts of yours in the last few months. You will be back home every day before dinner.”

“You’ve got to be joking!”

“You'll be home on time or you’ll be grounded. We are your family and it’s only right that you spend some time with us.”

“I was with Thorin! It’s not like I was on the other side of the world!”

“You have a room and a bed under this roof and until you are eighteen you will be sleeping here every night. I’m not arguing about it,” Belladonna finished when Bilbo wanted to protest.

“Frodo told you…”

“No, your brother hasn’t said a word.”

“Then what is all this about?!”

Belladonna sent him a warning glare and Bilbo immediately lowered his voice. “It’s about Thorin,” Bilbo guessed.

“As a matter of fact it is.”

“What? So now I’m not allowed to see him? Is that what this is about?”

“It’s about the fact that you need to get you temper under control. I’m not Thorin, I’m your mother and you’ll use a different tone with me.” She took a deep breath to calm her nerves. “My coworker saw you two yesterday together in the middle of a supermarket groping each other…”

“So what? He’s my boyfriend, it’s not like we haven’t done worse,” Bilbo muttered the last part to himself, but his mother still heard. And Bilbo was angry enough to confirm it. “Yes, I had sex with my boyfriend. Happy?”

“Your room, now!” ordered his mother.

“Why? Just because I had sex with my boyfriend?”

“Because you are becoming impossible to control!” Belladonna raised her voice. “Because you don’t know how to behave, because you speak to me like that, because you don’t listen! Do you want me to go on or do you see where this is going? I don’t know what’s changed in the last few weeks since you and Thorin started dating, but I’m considering locking you in your room.”

“You’re crazy!” Bilbo screamed before storming out of the kitchen.

Thorin knew something was wrong the moment Bilbo stormed out of the kitchen fuming, his mother following close behind.

"Bilbo!"

"Thorin, we’re leaving," Bilbo explained quickly as he was getting dressed.

Thorin just stared at him not knowing what to do while Belladonna repeated that he wasn't allowed to go anywhere.

"Stop telling me what to do!"

"Son," warned Bungo, but Bilbo refused to listen. He kept his eyes on Thorin, but when he realized that his boyfriend hadn't moved he’d had enough.

"Fine! I'll go alone!"

Before anyone had a chance to say anything Bilbo stormed out of the house and closed the doors with a loud thud.

Thorin needed a couple of seconds to collect his thoughts before he apologized to Bilbo's parents and hurried after him. He knew that Bilbo wouldn’t walk back and as expected he was waiting for him by his car visibly annoyed.

"Open the car, Thorin," he ordered as Thorin slowly approached him but refused to open the car.

"Care to explain what this is all about?"

"You too?" Bilbo snapped back and glared at him. "Can we just go?"

"Not until you explain why you yelled at your mother and now you’re acting like a spoiled brat."

"Like you have the right to judge," countered Bilbo, "you don't even have a relationship with your parents!" Thorin just crossed his arms in front of his chest and waited for Bilbo to start explaining. The younger teen sighed before he spoke: "She told me to stay here."

"And that's why you started yelling?"

"Thank you for being on my side!"

"I'm just trying to understand," Thorin said defensively. "What did she say to you that you reacted like that?"

"She started preaching about how I don't know how to behave anymore and how I spend too much time with you, and that one of her friends saw us kissing, like it's some sort of big deal. And I know what she started this in the first place. She is worried that you and I are having sex so I told her that it's too late to be worried about that."

Bilbo smiled victoriously, hoping that Thorin would be proud of the way he handled the situation, but the older teen didn't smile. His face showed no emotions at all.

"I just told her what she wanted to hear," Bilbo defended.

"It didn't look like it."

"Are you just going to stand there or are we going home?"

"I'm not going anywhere until you explain to me why you reacted the way you did," said Thorin calmly. "I know you, and I know you could have handled this differently, but instead you decided to fight with your mother."

"She has no right to tell me to stay here!"

"Actually, she does."

Bilbo frowned.

"I think you should go back inside and apologize."

Bilbo stared at Thorin for a moment, anger boiling inside, before storming past him, heading back inside the house.

Thorin caught his hand and held him back. "I'll wait for you here."

"Don't bother," Bilbo snapped at him and pulled his hand away before storming back inside the house, leaving Thorin alone and without a clue what to think for the second time that night.

:::

Bilbo didn't even give his parents a chance to ask any questions, he just went up to his room and locked the doors. He didn't want to talk with anyone or see anyone.

A few hours later he received a text from Thorin which he read and deleted, not wanting to deal with him at that moment. They were all playing smart but in truth no one knew what he was feeling. No one understood what he was going through. No one thought about the fact that in one short month this would all be over.

He couldn't sleep much. Once he calmed down and he started thinking about the things he’d said and done he realized that Thorin was right. This wasn’t him. But he couldn't control himself; it was too hard. And most importantly it wasn't fair. There were things that he couldn't change and now were keeping him awake.

The morning came and he knew what he had to do. He had been rude to some people and he needed to apologize.

He headed downstairs the moment he heard that his parents were awake. Luckily his brother was still sleeping so they would be able to talk without any interruptions.

"Mum," he started carefully when he entered the kitchen. His mother was preparing coffee while his father was sitting at the table reading the newspaper. Neither of them expected to see him, and they both looked disappointed. But above everything they were still his parents and they loved him very much, and they knew something was troubling him.

"I'm so sorry about everything I said last night." Bilbo held back his tears as his mother looked at him. He needed her more than anything else right now.

Luckily Belladonna knew her son well enough that something had to be very wrong for Bilbo to behave the way he did last night and the second she opened her arms to embrace him, Bilbo was there looking for comfort in his mother's hug, letting his tears fall freely.

"I'm sorry," he sobbed and all his mother did was pull him closer in her loving embrace and kiss his head.

"I know. Don't worry; everything is going to be okay. You'll see."

Bilbo sobbed for a few minutes, allowing his mother to hold him close and whisper comforting words to him. The walls he’d built were slowly collapsing and he couldn’t hold it back anymore. He had to say it now, or he would never gather the courage to do it again.

“I don’t want to give up my baby. Please, don’t make me do it. Please...” The last words were muffled by his sobbing.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter was extremely hard to write due to the fact that a week ago there were still more votes for a girl. I have to admit that I started panicking how am I going to finish this, since I have a lot of trouble writing Bilbo and Thorin having a girl. In my head they can only have boys.  
> I talked with a few people and they gave me their opinion on the matter.  
> But I discovered something today. The poll I created has more votes for the boy, and with the votes I got in comments it's a tie. I'm closing the poll since it has been causing me more trouble than actually helping me decide. I'm still not 100% sure what I'm going to do at the end, but all who have been reading my stories can guess what my decision will be.
> 
> I know this chapter was shorter, but I wanted to end it this way.


	32. Chapter 32

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine.

Belladonna's heart clenched at her son's words. She knew this was coming, and the way her husband was looking at them he was expecting it too. đThey knew it was a mistake letting Bilbo decide on his own, but their son was stubborn and when he set his mind on something it was hard to convince him otherwise. And now, here they were. Bilbo’s wall that protected him from the truth came crumbling down and they were all faced with reality.

“I mean, people can still change their mind,” said Bilbo after he wiped his tears on his sleeve. “I can change my mind, nothing is set in stone.” No matter how hard he tried tears were still running down his cheeks.

Belladonna placed a kiss on his forehead. “We’ll get through this together,” she promised, “like a family.”

“But we’ll be able to keep the baby, right?”

Bilbo knew the answer, but he wanted someone to tell him differently. He wanted to hear that this was his baby, and that he won’t have to give it away.

“Son,” started Bungo, “we signed the papers…”

“I know, but we can change our mind,” insisted Bilbo and Bungo’s heart broke. He embraced his wife and their son, silently praying that at the end everything will work out.

For the first time, in what felt like forever, they were able to talk about everything. About what really happened, about Thorin, about school, about their family, and Bilbo felt much better afterwards. He was used to talking with his parents and not hiding anything from them.

Belladonna realized for the first time how much Bilbo cared about Thorin, and how much this whole ordeal was affecting him. He wasn’t just giving up his baby, but also Thorin. It surprised her that with everything those two went through they still found a way to be together.

Bilbo got to spend some time with his parents before Frodo joined them for breakfast and he put his brave face back on, pretending that nothing happened.

“Thorin’s here,” said Bilbo after reading the text message.

“Can I come?” Frodo put his best puppy eyes on, hoping that Bilbo would say yes.

“Sure.”

Before he could say anything else, Frodo was already out of the house, leaving Bilbo once again alone with their parents.

“Will you be okay?” Asked Belladonna.

“I’ll have to be,” Bilbo tried to assure her with a smile. He promised to be home after school and then left.

:::

Thorin was waiting him by the car. Fíli, Kíli and Frodo were already inside talking with each other and ignoring them.

“Hi,” greeted Thorin a little unsure where they were standing at the moment.

This was all that it took for Bilbo to stop holding back and hug Thorin as close as possible. Thorin wrapped his arms around smaller teen and held him close, allowing Bilbo a few minutes to calm down. He kissed the top of his head before Bilbo pulled away and met his eyes.

“Do you want to talk about it?”

“Not now,” admitted Bilbo and Thorin nodded and leaned down to kiss him.

“When you want to talk find me, okay?”

Bilbo nodded and allowed Thorin to open the doors for him.

:::

For the next two weeks things were a _little_ awkwardbetween them. Bilbo was unusually quiet and Thorin didn’t want to pressure him into talking with him. He had an idea what Bilbo’s silence was all about, but there was nothing he could do about it. He tried talking with his father, but without and success. And then there was his mother… Acting as if nothing was wrong.

Thorin felt that things were getting better since Bilbo once again agreed to sleeping over at his place. Sex was off the table that much was clear, but still, Thorin had a feeling that Bilbo will open up to him, and that they will be able to talk. He also wanted to know what Bilbo’s plans were, and what will happen after, and Thorin wanted to assure him he will always be there for him, no matter what.

And then it happened.

Bilbo was smiling, really smiling. It wasn’t the fake smile Thorin has been seeing for the past two weeks. No, it was a genuine smile, and Bilbo looked happy as they entered the house that evening. Suddenly Valla appeared in front of them, all happy and excited about something, and Thorin had a bad feeling about the whole thing.

“Bilbo, how nice to see you!”

“Hi,” greeted Bilbo and allowed Thorin to wrap his arm around his waist.

“You know I wanted to ask Thorin when you’ll come, because I wanted to show you something,” she announced all happy and Thorin realized what it was.

“Really?” Asked Bilbo, happy that someone wanted to share something with him.

“I don’t think now is the right time,” interrupted Thorin and tried to lead Bilbo away, but he knew that Bilbo was interested in that something that his mother wanted to show him.

“Nonsense,” she turned him down. “I think Bilbo will love it.” She took his hand and led him upstairs, “I just want you to know that if you don’t like something we can still change it,” she explained and Bilbo became even more excited about what she had prepared for him. He smiled and followed her without saying anything, Thorin following close behind, dreading what will happen.

The doors opened and it took a few moments for Bilbo to realize what he was seeing, the only thing keeping him steady was Thorin’s hand on his back.

“So,” asked Valla after a few moments of silence, “do you like it?”

There were no words to describe it. Light yellow walls – _of course_ , white furniture, toys – all new, changing table, crib fit for a king, a rocking chair,… It had everything his baby would need. Bilbo quickly corrected himself: not his baby anymore. It was still hard to admit that Durin’s already took his baby for their own. A part of him thought it was funny, remembering Thorin’s words about being a living incubator, but the last few weeks have proved them so very true that it hurt. They were ready to take the baby away from him when he was not nearly ready to let go. Not now, not ever.

Seeing how Bilbo lost his words Valla was sure Bilbo loved it. “If you don’t like something we can still change it. After all, you still have a few weeks left.”

Bilbo’s eyes finally snapped up and met hers. What she thought was happiness turned out to be resignation, defeat, anger. The truth was that Bilbo Baggins wasn’t excited about giving his baby to them, he wasn’t happy about giving it away at all. He hated them for doing this to him, he hated _her_ even though he knew she had nothing to do with it and she could do nothing to help him.

She nodded at him, before excusing herself and leaving the room, leaving Bilbo and her son alone.

Bilbo took a deep breath, trying to calm himself down, trying to keep himself from crying. This wasn’t the right time. He should be happy. He should thank her for doing this for his baby, because it was simply perfect.

He took a step forward and brushed his fingers against the fine wood of the crib. Fit for a king, he thought as he looked around. This is what he would be missing out. His child’s life. He wouldn’t see any of it. But he agreed to that, didn’t he? He agreed to give away the thing he loved most with a promise for a better future, one he could not give.

It was Thorin’s hand that brought him back from his thoughts. Apparently his boyfriend called his name several times. Funny, he didn’t even hear him.

“Let’s go,” said Thorin softly and tried to lead him out of the room.

How considerate of him. Not a single question asked. Not even Thorin’s favorite ‘are you okay?’. And he followed without saying a word, only stopping for a second to turn off the lights and close the door.

:::

This wasn’t easy thought Thorin as he once again woke up in the middle of the night. This wasn’t easy for him, or for Bilbo or for their relationship that suffered the most. Bilbo was drifting away from him and every time Thorin tried to reach him it felt like they were even further apart. He tried to understand what Bilbo was feeling, but it was hard since he himself wasn’t sure how he felt. If they could just talk about it, it would make things ten times easier.

But when he turned around the other side of his bed was empty. Bilbo was not here and Thorin sighed as he rolled on his back. Apparently he wasn’t the only one who had trouble sleeping, he thought as pushed the covers away and got up. He had a very good idea where to look for his pregnant boyfriend.

The house was completely dark, except for one room. A bedside lamp provided just enough light so that Thorin knew where he was going.

“…love it here, you’ll see.” Heard Thorin. Bilbo was talking with someone very quietly. “It’s beautiful. Even I like being here. Especially with you.”

Thorin stopped at the doors. Bilbo was sitting in the rocking chair, rubbing his belly and talking to his baby. It was the first time Thorin has seen him like that and it made him realize even more how much this baby meant for Bilbo. He just stood there without making a sound.

“Are you a boy or a girl?” Continued Bilbo, without noticing that he wasn’t alone anymore. “I’m sorry I never asked, I wanted it to be a surprise. I wonder how you’re going to look sometimes. Will you be like me or…” He swallowed down a sob. “I’m going to miss you. I’m going to miss you so much. You have no idea how much I love you. How much I’ll always love you. You’ll never know me, but that’s okay, it’s better this way. No need to worry over something that is not important. I just wanted you to know that you are the best thing that has ever happened to me and that I love you. I will always love you, my little miracle.”

Thorin closed his eyes for a moment to gather his courage before he walked over to Bilbo and crouched in front of him. Tears were streaming down his cheeks, but Thorin didn’t nothing to remove them. He took Bilbo’s hand and squeezed it reassuringly without saying anything.

Bilbo tried to hold down another sob, but he just couldn’t do it anymore. “I don’t want to give away my baby.”

And there it was.

Bilbo finally said it. He was waiting weeks to hear those words.

“I blame myself, I’m angry at you, I hate your father, I hate everything that is happening to me! Why did this have to happen to me? Why? What did I do to deserve this?! What? Tell me what I did wrong! Why was I so stupid?”

During his outburst Thorin managed to pull Bilbo in his lap, without him even noticing. He pulled him as close as he could and held him while he cried.

It took some time for Bilbo to calm down. Thorin didn’t want to push him, he held him close and allowed him to cry without saying anything. But eventually Bilbo did calm down, and the tears on his cheeks dried, and then they just sat there, neither of them wanting to break the silence while at the same time they both knew they should talk.

“Aren’t you going to tell me everything is going to be okay,” asked Bilbo quietly.

Thorin continued to rub his belly for a minute, feeling the baby move under his hand before he spoke. “It’s not going to be okay. You and I both know it. We’ll just have to get through this. One day at the time.” He pressed a kiss to Bilbo’s curls. “I hate it too. I want you to be happy, I want to see you smile every day…”

“No more tears?”

“No, tears are okay, it means that you care. I’m not going to try to pretend to know how you feel right now, because I don’t. I just want you to know I’m here for you. We are together in this, remember? This is ours,” he added as Bilbo covered his hand on the belly.

“Then why does it feel like I’m the only one who is losing? You’ll get to see our baby, every day, you’ll see our baby grow, you’ll be there for him, or her,” he added.

“I’ll be lying about for the rest of my life. I’d rather be far away than watch my child be raised by someone else. It’s not easy for me, because I know what I’ll be taking away from you.”

“There is no other way, is it?” Asked Bilbo. “This is happening and there is nothing we could do.”

Thorin let out a sigh. “I tried talking to my father… You can guess that didn’t go well.”

“Promise me something.”

“Anything.”

“Promise me that you will always be here. That you will always protect our baby and that you’ll make sure she or he feels loved and…”

“I promise,” said Thorin and pulled Bilbo closer.

“We should go back to bed,” said Bilbo after a few minutes, Thorin only nodded and helped him up.

He watched Bilbo pick something up from the floor and then holding it close to himself, looking around the room deciding where should he put it.

“It’s the plush bunny I gave you when we went to see the doctor together.”

Bilbo nodded and held the toy close to himself. “I know you gave this to me, but it’s the only thing I have right now, and I just want to… You know.” Leave something of mine was left unsaid.

Thorin glanced around the room trying to find a perfect spot for Bilbo’s toy. “Here,” he said and pulled the teddy bear out of the crib and tossed it on the chair. “You can put it here.”

Bilbo placed a kiss on it before placing it in the crib, knowing that his child will have at least something from him, before walking out of the room without looking back. Thorin turned off the lights and followed without saying a word.

:::

“Kíli!” Barked Thorin, “Move away from the TV!”

“Sorry,” his younger brother muttered before joining his brother on the couch.

“Was that really necessary,” asked Bilbo as he was running his fingers through Thorin’s hair, something he knew will help him relax. They were watching a film together and Bilbo had a throne made from pillows to keep him sitting comfortable, Thorin’s head resting in his lap.

“He was blocking my view!”

“There was no need to yell at him,” scolded Bilbo, “you could have just told him to move away.”

“I’m not going to apologize, if that’s what you’re expecting from me.” Bilbo’s hand stilled and Thorin had the nerve to look at his boyfriend who was looking disapprovingly at him. He knew that Bilbo will wait for however long it takes for him to apologize so he let out a sigh and muttered ‘I’m sorry’ to his brother.

“See, it wasn’t that hard, was it,” said Bilbo as he continued running his fingers through Thorin’s hair.

Both Fíli and Kíli couldn’t help but snigger, at the way Bilbo was controlling their brother. But before they knew it Thorin reached for one of the pillows and threw it in their direction.

“Hey,” warned Bilbo before Thorin could throw another one. “How old are you?”

“Stop telling me what to do,” protested Thorin.

“Then stop acting like a child!”

Thorin wanted to say something back, but then decided to bite his tongue and stay quiet.

Half an hour later Ori and Dwalin joined them, both smiling and being happy because they were together. The moment they entered Ori’s eyes fixed on Bilbo’s stomach.

“You are so big!”

“Thanks,” muttered Bilbo.

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to offend you. It’s just that when I see you at school you are always wearing one of your jumpers, and now you look like you are about to give birth,” Ori explained as he sat down next to him. “You are absolutely glowing.”

“Hormonal response to an orgasm, nothing more,” explained Thorin very full of himself. “Ouch!” He protested when Bilbo pulled his hair. Apparently his boyfriend didn’t think this was funny like everyone else. “You do make a nice face when you are about to – ouch! Alright, alright, point taken,” Thorin said to Bilbo, who was glaring at him. “I’m going to get us something to drink,” he said and stood up.

“I’ll help you,” said Dwalin and followed after him.

“Finally,” sighed Bilbo happily as Thorin and Dwalin disappeared into the kitchen. “I thought he was never going to leave.”

Ori sent him a questioning look as Bilbo searched through his pockets until he found what he was looking for. “Thorin never allows me to eat this,” he explained as he took a bite from the chocolate bar he was hiding. “Not ever since he read somewhere about having a healthy diet while you are pregnant.” He scoffed at the thought. “He has no idea what cravings do to you.”

“Can I feel,” hesitantly asked Ori while Bilbo was eating his chocolate.

“Yeah, sure. But I have to warn you that it’s been unusually calm for the last two hours so I don’t think you’ll feel anything.”

“This kid is definitely my brother’s,” added Fíli. “This morning I waited for more than half an hour and it didn’t move. Then Thorin came and it started kicking and moving, and everything.”

“So I should just wait for Thorin,” asked Ori.

“No need,” quickly said Bilbo and hid his chocolate as his boyfriend and his best friend returned.

Thorin gave him one of those smiles that Bilbo immediately knew he was up to something. “You need me?”

“Ori just wants to feel the baby move.”

“Mhmm, I sure he does,” said Thorin and leaned down to kiss him. Bilbo felt the baby move and Ori jump at the sudden movement. But he also noticed how Thorin smiled into the kiss. “You do taste good,” told him Thorin as they broke apart. “Was that chocolate I was tasting,” he asked and held his hand out for Bilbo to hand over his secret stash.

“It was just one bite,” the pregnant teen complained as he handed over his chocolate.

“And the rest of it. Please,” added Thorin and waited patiently for Bilbo to hand everything over.

“I hate you right now,” he muttered as he searched through his pockets. In the end, Thorin had his hands full of sweets that he later threw into the trash.

“I brought you 8 slices of apple. Something sweet as you wanted, and healthy at the same time.”

Bilbo frowned, but still accepted the plate. “I don’t really care about healthy right now. We wanted chocolate.”

“You two can’t have chocolate,” countered Thorin and sat down. His hand immediately went to Bilbo’s stomach, where the baby was kicking the most.

“Then I want pizza!”

“Yeah, that would be great for dinner,” agreed Kíli.

“You’re not getting pizza,” told him Thorin.

“I want the same one we ate last time. All greasy with extra cheese.”

“You’re not getting it.”

“Then you’re not getting any!”

“That was low,” laughed Dwalin when Thorin suddenly became more acceptable to Bilbo’s ideas.

Thorin turned to face his boyfriend. “You’re not getting pizza and you are not threatening me with sex, because that would mean you wouldn’t be getting any either.”

“I did not need to know that,” complained Fíli.

“Fine, then I’ll go home.”

He was about to stand up, but Thorin wrapped his arms around him and pulled him into his lap.

“You are going to finish this apple,” Thorin whispered in his ear, “then I’m going to get your pizza. You’ll call your parents and tell them you’ll be staying here for the night and that I’ll bring you back tomorrow morning. And then when Dwalin and Ori leave, which will hopefully be soon, we will go to my room and we are going to spend the night together. Agreed?”

Bilbo swallowed the lump that has formed in his throat before nodding.

“I love you,” he said and kissed him.

“Love you, too.” Thorin allowed Bilbo to stay in his lap as they continued to watch the movie.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tumblr doesn't work on any of my computers, or tablet, or phone today. It's like detox!
> 
> I'm not going to drag this forever, so expect a few more chapters and then we are done.


	33. Chapter 33

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine.

Days quickly turned into weeks and before he knew it, he was two weeks from his due date. Two weeks from letting everything go, before letting Thorin go. Two weeks before his life would get back to normal. The funny thing was, it didn’t feel normal, not anymore. Sitting next to Thorin, kissing him, holding his hand, that felt normal.

“So, what’s the plan,” asked Belladonna one evening. Thorin came over and they had dinner together. And then Frodo went to the living room to watch some TV, leaving the adults alone in the kitchen.

“We had the last scan today,” informed her Bilbo. How easy it had become to use we instead of I. “And that’s about it,” sighed Bilbo. “Everything looks as it supposed to.”

“Do you know the sex of the baby?”

“The baby was in the right position,” explained Thorin, “but Bilbo refuses to know, so we’ll have to wait two more weeks to find out.”

“Or more,” added Bilbo and his mother sent him a questioning look.

“The doctor said that the baby will be overdue. She said it might be a week, or not,” said Thorin and squeezed Bilbo’s hand reassuringly. “It might come on time. We’ll see.”

“I’m a little disappointed that you refuse to know the sex of the baby,” Belladonna told her son. “It would be nice to know if I’m going to be a grandma to a boy or a girl.”

“It doesn’t really matter now does it,” snapped Bilbo angrily.

“We could at least buy some-“

“No, nothing,” interrupted Bilbo rudely.

“But-“

“I said no! I agreed for them to take the baby immediately,” Bilbo explained and tried very hard to keep his tears at bay.

“I don’t understand,” said Bungo, confused with everything that was said.

It was once again Thorin’s turn to explain, since Bilbo refused to utter another word. “After the check up we had a meeting with a social worker where she explained everything to us. As this is a closed adoption my parents will be called the minute Bilbo comes into the hospital. And when the baby comes my parents have all the rights to the baby.”

“I understand that,” confirmed Belladonna, “but after you give birth you’ll be able to hold your baby, isn’t that standard procedure?”

“I was advised not to,” mumbled Bilbo and then allowed Thorin to continue.

“The social worker said that she had dealt with many closed adoptions before, especially with teenagers and her opinion is that the baby is immediately taken away after the birth. She said that people get attached to a baby really quickly and that they have trouble letting go, leading in all sorts of legal disputes trying to annul the papers that were already signed.”

“So-“

“She said I look emotionally unstable and it would be best if I don’t get to hold the baby because then I would be able to let go. She said it will be easier for me to deal with everything that way,” finished Bilbo.

“So once you give birth, we’ll never know anything about this baby,” questioned Bungo.

“That’s right,” tried to laugh Bilbo, but didn’t really succeed. “Once the baby is out of me it has other parents and everything that concerns that baby has to be discussed with them. And that’s it.”

“Why did you agree on something like that,” asked Belladonna with disbelief.

“Because I’m emotionally unstable and won’t be able to handle it! I already earned myself eight sessions with a therapist to _help_ me deal with the pain. What more can I ask for?!” And with that Bilbo stormed out of the kitchen and up to his room.

“Thank you,” said Belladonna to Thorin after a few minutes of silence. “Thank you for being there for him. Without you here I believe things would be even more difficult.”

Thorin nodded. “I want to be there for him. I need him as much as he needs me. This isn’t easy on either of us, it just took me a little longer to admit that. I guess I was just angry.”

“At him?” Asked Bungo.

“At myself,” clarified Thorin. “I did some things I’m not really proud of.”

“You’re standing by his side when he most needs you to, and I can’t thank you enough for it,” told him Bilbo’s mother. “Will you be with him when he gives birth?”

“Actually… He wants you in there with him. But I’ll be waiting outside if he changes his mind. But knowing your son I doubt that will be the case. I’ll better go check on him,” said Thorin and stood up.

“There’s one more thing I would like to ask you. One of our cousins has a birthday next week and we’ve all been invited, but I don’t think we should drag Bilbo with us, since we’ll be staying there for three days and it takes five hours with train to get there, I wanted to ask you if you’ll be willing to come and check on him, just so that he won’t be alone, that if you don’t have other plans.”

“My parents and my brothers are going skiing somewhere since winter vacation start next week, but I wasn’t planning on going anyway, so he can stay at my place, if you agree.”

“Just don’t do anything stupid,” warned him Bungo and Thorin offered him a smile before going upstairs.

:::

As expected, he found Bilbo in his bed, under the covers, as if trying to hide away from the rest of the world. Without saying a word Bilbo moved a little making just enough space for Thorin to join him.

“This is not nearly as big as my bed,” complained Thorin as the two of them lay on the bed.

“You have a king size bed,” mumble Bilbo in his shoulder as Thorin pressed a kiss to hi curls.

“I have to go back home. It’s late and you need some sleep. It will get better tomorrow, I promise,” he assured him. “And next week you are staying with me while your parents are gone. We’ll have the whole house just to ourselves.”

Bilbo nodded absent-mindedly while drawing circles on Thorin’s chest. “We are going to break up,” he said quietly and Thorin wasn’t sure if he was supposed to be happy that this wasn’t a question or if he should be terrified because they both knew it will happen.

“Not yet.”

“We can’t keep secrets from each other. We can’t live a lie.”

“Don’t think about that right now. We still have a few weeks left.”

“And then?”

“Don’t think about it,” shushed him Thorin and allowed him to snuggle closer.

He left once he was sure that Bilbo was asleep.

:::

“Thank you for driving us here today, Thorin. You really didn’t have to.”

“No need to thank me,” answered Thorin as he help Bungo get the last bag out of the car. “It’s the least I could do.”

The rest of the family was already making their way to the train when Bungo pulled Thorin back for a second. “I meant what I said. Don’t do anything crazy these three days while we are gone. Bilbo hasn’t been feeling well. He refuses to say anything but I can see it in his eyes that he’s not okay.”

“I promise to take care of him.”

“You have my number, don’t you? Just in case something happens and we need to come back.”

“I do, Sir. You don’t have to worry about anything.”

“If-“

“If something happens, you’ll be the first one I’ll call,” finished Thorin before the followed the others.

“Can I come visit,” asked Frodo the moment Thorin wrapped his arm around Bilbo to keep him steady.

“Sure. Once you get back you can come.”

Bilbo couldn’t help but to roll his eyes.

“I want Fíli and Kíli to be there!”

“Well, they’ll be back Saturday evening so you can come Sunday morning and spend the day with us.”

“Okay!” Chipped Frodo, excited with the idea of spending the whole day with Fíli and Kíli playing video games. “Bye Bilbo, bye Thorin, see you in a few days!”

What followed were some obligatory kisses from his mother and a promise to call every evening and immediately if something happens before the announcement came that the train was about to leave.

Bilbo watched the train disappear before Thorin lead him back to the car.

:::

“You are unusually quiet today,” he noted as he help Bilbo upstairs. The pregnant teen was quickly out of breath and with his protruding belly was becoming quite unstable on his feet, so Thorin’s hand on his back was more than welcome. “Something wrong?”

Bilbo sighed. “Nothing’s wrong. I’m just tired, and sore, and my back really hurts.”

“How about we put a movie on, I make some popcorn for you to eat and give you a foot massage. How does that sound?”

“Heavenly,” admitted Bilbo. “But only if you include the extra pillows.”

“I can do that,” smiled Thorin before placing a kiss on his lips.

Twenty minutes later Bilbo was enjoying the movie and popcorn while Thorin massaged his feet.

“How does that feel?”

Bilbo rolled his eyes backward in enjoyment. All the extra weight was finally taking its toll and Thorin’s fingers worked magic to relive some of that pressure. “I just think that it’s really unfair that I gained so much weight. I mean, the baby weights around 6 to 9 pounds, and the rest? Why do I need to keep the rest?” He fumed.

“You look beautiful.”

“Easy for you to say,” Bilbo muttered. “You should see my stretch marks, they are gross.”

“I’ve seen them.”

“Even the ones on my-“

“Arse,” finished Thorin and smiled at the thought. “Yup, even those. And they are not that gross. They are a part of you.”

“Easy for you to say. You have no idea how hard is to get rid of them.”

“They’ll fade.”

“W-what?” Bilbo couldn’t believe what he just heard. “Where did you learn that?” He asked with amusement.

“I must have read it somewhere online.”

Bilbo couldn’t help but laugh. “I can’t believe that you, of all people would search on the internet for something like that.” He offered him a warm smile. “It’s nice to know that you care, even if it means that you did it because it bothers you.”

“It doesn’t bother me – you know what, forget I said anything.”

They were quiet for a couple of minutes before Bilbo spoke. “Boy or a girl?”

“Girl,” came an immediate answer from Thorin, who didn’t even look up. “The thought that it would in any way resembled Fíli or Kíli terrifies me. They are enough trouble as it is. You?” He asked and looked up.

Bilbo just shrugged. “I don’t really care. I just hope that it’s healthy and that it has all the fingers, and toes, maybe your eyes,” he added with a smile on his face as he rubbed his belly.

“Are you terrified about giving birth? I know I would be.”

“No, I’m fine with it. Though I have to admit that in the last few days I was thinking about having an epidural – you know, drug me and don’t allow me to feel anything.”

“But you are not changing your mind, are you,” asked Thorin.

“No,” sighed Bilbo. “We’ll be okay, right, once this is all over,” he asked. “We’ll still see each other at school and I don’t want things to become awkward between us.”

 _Why would they become awkward_ , thought Thorin. _It’s not like we dated for the last few months and that you are about to give birth to our child – yeah, no need to get awkward between us._ “Only for a few months,” reminded him Thorin.

“Right, university, how could I forgot. Have you decided what you want to study?”

“I’m still thinking about it. I have a few months left.” Thorin climbed up the bed and sat next to Bilbo before wrapping an arm around his waist. “I love you. Don’t ever forget that.”

“I won’t,” promised Bilbo. “I love you, too.”

:::

They spent the rest of the day watching movies, cuddling on the bed and sleeping. Neither of them wanting to do anything more. The second day spent in almost the same way. It was the third day that everything went wrong.

Bilbo has been difficult since the moment he woke up, snapping constantly at Thorin and yelling at him to leave him alone. Thorin almost lost it by the time it was time for lunch, but he did his best not to show that his patience was running thin. He could understand that Bilbo was feeling uncomfortable, that his back ached, what he didn’t understand was the reason why Bilbo felt he could release his frustrations on him.

Maybe it was the weather that was affecting him. It was raining since they woke up and it was getting worse by the hour. A heavy storm was forecasted for the later in the afternoon and it was advised that everyone should stay at home.

It was Thorin’s idea for Bilbo to take an afternoon nap, because the younger teen didn’t stop tossing on the bed, clearly being uncomfortable. It took some persuading, but Bilbo did fall asleep and so did Thorin, even if that wasn’t his intention.

He woke up almost three hours later due to a very loud thunder. He let out a groan. He hadn’t meant to sleep for so long. He turned around, only to find Bilbo’s side of the bed empty. “Great,” he muttered. Mahal knows what was his boyfriend doing right now. He checked the clock. 17:56 it read. That was strange. Bilbo’s parents were supposed to return today and they were supposed to call him to come and pick them up from the station. Maybe they just had a delay because of this horrible weather.

Thorin shivered a little as he got out of bed, grabbed one of his hoodies before he went looking for his boyfriend.

What immediately caught his attention was a muffled cry from Bilbo’s old room.

“Bilbo, are you okay?” No answer. “Bilbo?” No answer came after that and different scenarios of what could be wrong raced through Thorin’s mind. Without even realizing he found himself running to his room.

“Are you okay,” he asked again as he found Bilbo holding onto the closet for support with one hand, and holding his belly with the other.

“It hurts,” quietly cried out Bilbo.

And that was all it took for Thorin to understand what was happening. In a moment he was there next to him helping him stand. “Why didn’t you say anything? This didn’t happen in the last three hours. When did it-“

“This morning,” admitted Bilbo.

“And why didn’t you say anything?”

“Because I’m scared, and because it hurts.”

“Of course it hurts,” snapped Thorin, “what else did you expect?” Bilbo’s hold on Thorin’s hand became stronger and Thorin realized he might have been a little too harsh. “I’m sorry, that was uncalled for. Can you move.”

Bilbo nodded. “It passed.”

“Alright, let’s get you back to my room. I need to call your parents.”

“Already did that,” informed him Bilbo. “They are stuck there because of the weather. They won’t be able to come.”

“I’ll call them again if anything changed, ok?” Bilbo nodded in agreement as Thorin helped him on the bed. “I’ll be right back.”

It took a minute before someone answered the phone. “Hello, this is Thorin calling.”

 _“Thorin, finally, I was worried sick.”_ It was Bilbo’s mother who answered. _“What’s going on? Bilbo called an hour ago asking when are we coming back. Is something wrong?”_

“No, nothing’s wrong,” assured her Thorin, “Bilbo is in labor-“

_“What? He didn’t say anything.”_

“Even I didn’t know, until a few minutes ago when I found him trying to breathe through a contraction.”

_“Are you sure they are not just practice contractions.”_

“He told me he’s been having them since this morning so I’m guessing this happening. When are you coming back, he’s scared and he needs you, and to be honest, I don’t really know what to do. I’m this close to start panicking myself.”

_“A tree fell onto the rails so we’re not getting home, at least not yet. The weather is really bad out here.”_

“Here isn’t any better,” told her Thorin.

_“What you need to do right now is remain calm. Call the doctor and tell her what’s happening and she’ll tell what to do. And please, call me if anything changes.”_

Thorin promised to do so before ending the call and calling the doctor.

:::

Bilbo waited for Thorin to return. He could hear him talking on the phone, but that was it. He had no idea who he was talking to.

A few minutes later Thorin finally returned.

“I spoke with the doctor,” he started as he sat down next to him. “She said that we should go to the hospital. She promised to be there soon.”

Bilbo nodded, his hand still resting on his belly.

“I spoke with your parents… They won’t be able to come in time.”

“Did you call yours?”

“I’ll call them once we get to the hospital. The weather is horrible, so all flights are most likely cancelled. It’s going to be just you and me, alright?”

“It’s not like I have much of a choice,” mumbled Bilbo and accepted Thorin’s hand to pull himself up. “Can you pack my stuff? Everything is my backpack except one shirt which I left in the bathroom and pajamas which are on the bed.”

Thorin did as he was asked and a few minutes later he was already helping Bilbo into the car. The storm was getting worse by the minute and Thorin was grateful for a distraction from the uncomfortable silence between him and Bilbo.

“Is there anyone else who would you like to call,” he finally asked and looked for a second over to his boyfriend who was clutching tight to the seat belt.

Bilbo remained still for the next few seconds before loosening his grip and exhaling deeply. “No, I don’t need anyone there, I can do it myself.”

Thorin tried not to show it, but Bilbo’s words hurt. He knew that now Bilbo will do everything to push him away to prevent from getting hurt, but Thorin was determined to not allow him to do that. He will stay with him until the baby is born and Bilbo’s parents get back. That was the plan for now, he will think about everything else later.

:::

The moment they entered the hospital one of the nurses showed Bilbo where to change before he was taken to one of the rooms. Thorin was forced to wait outside when Arwen arrived and checked the progress.

“This will monitor the baby’s heartbeat,” she explained as she turned the last machine on. “So that we’ll know how the little one is doing. You still have a lot of time, so I would advise you to get some sleep if you can, you can also watch TV or listen to the music, whatever you want as long you’re feeling fine. You can expect stronger contractions in a few hours, but you can still change your mind about epidural, once you enter the last part of labor that won’t be possible, so think about it, okay?”

“Okay.”

“Would you like me to call Thorin in? He’s waiting outside.”

“You can tell him to come in,” agreed Bilbo and the doctor smiled and left.

Thorin quietly entered the room, not really knowing what to do. The room was quiet with the exception of the heart monitor which was beeping in constant rhythm.

He pulled a chair next to the bed and took Bilbo’s hand in his. “Do you want to talk or-“

Bilbo just shook his head and made some space on the bed. “Can you just hold me,” he asked in a broken whisper.

“I don’t think that’s allowed. The doctor will be back in an hour and-“

“Please…”

Thorin swallowed before he nodded. He kicked off his shoes and climbed in the bed with Bilbo making sure no to pull at any wire that was connected to him. “I love you,” he whispered as Bilbo placed his hand on his belly and snuggled into his chest. A part of him still hoped that everything is going to be okay.

Things progressed painfully slowly and Thorin was grateful for the nap he took in the afternoon otherwise he had no idea how would he be able to stay up so late. It was 2:30 in the morning, he already talked to his parents, called Bilbo’s mom a couple of times and has his hand squeezed for the last hour.

Arwen was once again checking Bilbo how things were progressing.

“Good news, another hour or so and you’ll be ready to push,” she told them.

“That’s good news,” snapped at her Bilbo angrily, “tell me you’re joking!”

“It’s your first baby, you should be happy things are moving so fast,” she told him as calmly as she could.

“This is not normal,” cried Bilbo as the pain hit him again. “This can’t be normal!”

“I can assure you that they very normal. You are progressing as you should be so I’m not expecting any complications.”

“But it hurts!”

“Breathe it through,” calmly reminded him Arwen and guided him through a contraction. “See, you can do it. Another hour, I promise. You were able to last this long so I’m sure you can survive another hour. You have Thorin here to help you.”

“He’s not helping anything!”

“Don’t be like that,” scolded Arwen and wiped the tears away from Bilbo’s face. “He’s been here the whole time, supporting you, making you comfortable, has he not.” Bilbo squeezed his eyes and nodded. “I’ll be back in fifteen minutes.”

The moment she left, her hand was replaced with Thorin’s.

“I’m sorry,” apologized Bilbo.

“You have nothing to be sorry for. You’re in pain and uncomfortable, it’s understandable.”

“We’ll get to see our baby soon,” smiled Bilbo and held Thorin’s hand.

“Very soon,” smiled Thorin and pressed a kiss to Bilbo’s sweaty forehead.

:::

Never in his life he could imagine that giving birth would be so painful. He heard stories yes, but he never really believed them. Up until now that it was his time to do it. A promised hour turned into an hour and a half, and what was promised as a quick birth has been going on for almost an hour. With every push there was encouragement for just one more because he was close – but to that one more followed another one and another one…

He was sweaty, tired and on the verge of giving up. It was Thorin’s encouragement that kept him going and a promise of seeing his baby. Just one more, there was always just one more.

But he did it.

His eyes were blurry from all the sweat that was dripping from his forehead when he realized he has finally done it. He let out a breath as he leaned back into the pillows for a moment of rest, just a moment, but it was already too late.

“There you go,” he heard Arwen say, and for a moment the only thing that was important was that Thorin didn’t leave his side, that he stayed with him until the end.

He abruptly sat up, but he was too late.

“Take him,” said Arwen and gave the nurse _his_ baby, wrapped in a blanket.

“No!” Bilbo immediately reached for the baby, but Thorin held him back. He was too late, the nurse was already out of the room. “Please,” he cried, the pain he was feeling not a minute ago completely forgotten, “I just want to look at him, please.” Tears were streaming down the cheeks as Thorin and another nurse helped him to lay back down and Arwen explained what will happen next. He didn’t hear her, he didn’t hear Thorin trying to calm him down, he didn’t even know he was fighting their hold on him until they pressed him down harder. He didn’t know what was happening around him and to tell the truth, he didn’t even want to know.

:::

He woke up in a different room. The lights were dimmed and that annoying machine was still beeping. He tried to move, but it hurt too much. The pain was there, but the baby wasn’t. It felt strange not the feel anything moving inside of him, it felt wrong, that’s the only way he could describe it.

“I’ll go tell the doctor that you’re awake,” he heard Thorin say from the other side of the bed, but before he could turn around and say something to him Thorin was already out of the room.

He returned a couple of minutes later with Arwen, who surprisingly didn’t offer him a smile, but instead went straight to business.

“How are you feeling?”

“Sore,” he answered. His voice completely broken. He didn’t remember shouting or anything, but his throat hurt.

“We can increase the medication if it gets too painful.”

“It’s not that bad,” told her Bilbo. “I can handle it.”

“The good news is that everything was okay during the delivery so you’ll be fine in a couple of days. Your parents should be here shortly and if nothing changes you could be going home this afternoon.” Bilbo nodded. “Any questions?”

Bilbo knew he shouldn’t ask, but he couldn’t help himself. “Can you tell me how is he, it’s a boy, am I-“

“I’m not allowed to talk about-“

“Please,” pleaded Bilbo. “I just want to know. It’s not like I’m going to see him again…”

Arwen looked at Thorin for a second before letting out a breath and taking a step closer. “He’s 7.5 pounds, his APGAR score was 10, breathing normally, nice skin color…”

“So he is healthy,” asked Bilbo as tears fell down his cheeks.

“As healthy as he could be,” assured him Arwen.

“Thank you. Thank you for telling me,” said Bilbo before wiping the tears away. Arwen nodded before she left, leaving Thorin and Bilbo alone in uncomfortable silence.

“Did you call your parents,” asked Bilbo once he managed to wipe all the tears away.

“They are coming here on the evening flight,” told him Thorin calmly.

“Did you see him?” Continued Bilbo his interrogation as he reached for Thorin’s hand, but his boyfriend flinched away.

“No.”

“Why not?”

Thorin didn’t say a word. He walked to the window and stared at the world outside.

“Answer me! Why didn’t you go and see him?!” Demanded Bilbo, angry at the fact that Thorin was ignoring him.

“Why would I do that?” Thorin asked calmly, annoying Bilbo even more.

“I don’t know!” Yelled Bilbo in frustration. “Because it’s something you should do!”

“Something I should do?!”

“Yes!”

“Or something that you would do? Because let me tell you something: I’m not you!” Hissed Thorin trough his teeth. “I’m not the one who got attached, you did! You and your problem of letting go! You had more than half a year to accept the fact that you will give him away, but you just couldn’t, could you?!”

“You got attached as much as I do,” accused Bilbo.

“No, no I didn’t.” Thorin was trying to remain calm, but he didn’t really succeed. “I don’t care! Do you know why?! Because every time I get attached to something you found a way to ruin everything!”

“This is not my fault! You got me pregnant in the first place!”

“Of course! I’m always to blame! Like you did a few hours ago!”

“I wanted to see my child and you held me back! Am never going to see him again and the only chance I had you ruined it and I’ll never forgive you for that! Did you hear me? Never!!!”

“And you sold my child! I’ll never forgive you for that!”

“I can’t have someone filled with so much hatred in my life,” angrily told him Bilbo.

“Neither can I.”

“So it’s settled?”

They were both breathing heavily from all the shouting, staring at each other, not knowing what to do next until a nurse entered the room.

“What’s going on in here? I could hear you shouting from the other side of the hospital.”

“Leave,” hissed Bilbo at Thorin. “Isn’t that what you wanted to do from the beginning? Leave, I don’t want to see you ever again.”

Thorin stared at him for a second before Bilbo raised his voice again. “Leave!”

And so Thorin did. He grabbed his coat and left the room without saying another word.

“Thorin?” When exiting he accidentally bumped into Bilbo’s mother.

“I’m sorry,” was all he could say before he disappeared down the hall.

“What was that all about,” asked Bungo when he joined his wife with Frodo.

“I don’t know, but I have a feeling nothing good.”

Together they entered the room where their son was.

“Mum,” called Bilbo the moment he saw her, tears streaming down his cheeks.

Belladonna didn’t know what else to do except pull him into a strong hug, that held a promise of things getting better. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hate me, it’s a boy! (In my defense, there were more votes for a boy. Okay, only one more, but it made the difference.) But, the baby was never really important (for a sequel, yes, for this no). The main focus is their relationship. Forget about the baby.
> 
> Believe it or not this was my plan from the moment I wrote the first chapter. Happy ending is not something I wasn’t going for. The next chapter will make everything more clear.
> 
> We’re almost there. I can already see the finish line. Almost. There…


	34. Chapter 34

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine.

**_"This is the way you left me. I'm not pretending. No hope, no love, no glory, no happy ending. This is the way that we love, like it's forever. Then live the rest of our life, but not together."_ **

He had just told Thorin to leave. And Thorin left. He left without saying another word. Without a goodbye kiss or words of encouragement. Nothing. He just left, and up until now Bilbo never realized how much it would hurt to lose Thorin. He loved him, simple as that, but with everything that has happened, things would never work between them.

There was no way of stopping tears also no reason to. This wasn’t a happy day. He just lost two things he loved the most in the world and the pain he felt couldn’t be described with words. Luckily he wasn’t alone for long because the moment Thorin left his mother entered the room, prepared to protect him from anything or anyone who would try to do him harm.

“Mum,” he cried and in a few short steps she pulled him into a hug and held him so that he could cry on her shoulder. He knew that his father and Frodo came with her, but at that moment he really didn’t care. He needed comfort, he needed someone who will tell him that everything is going to be alright.

Belladonna waited until sobbing stopped before pulling back and looking into her son’s eyes. “Everything is going to be okay,” she promised him as she brushed the last tears that escaped him away. “It’s going to be hard for you, and for us, but we’ll get through this, I promise,” she told him before pressing a kiss to his forehead. She put a strand of his hair behind his ear before lifting his chin and forcing him to look her in the eyes. “Better?”

Bilbo nodded before hugging her again.

Belladonna sat on the bed next to him and pulled him closer into her loving embrace.

“So where is the baby?” Asked Frodo from where he was standing next to his father, watching his mother trying to calm Bilbo down. He wasn’t too young to understand what was happening, but this whole ordeal was confusing for everyone.

Bungo flinched and looked worryingly over at his son who already looked so vulnerable and in pain.

“They took him away after he was born,” explained Bilbo calmly as his mother wiped another tear away.

“So it was a boy?” She asked and Bilbo nodded.

“I didn’t get to see him, but the doctor told me he was healthy.”

“Do we get to see him?” Asked Frodo.

Bilbo shook his head and he would swear that Frodo looked even more disappointed than he was.

“Were they called?” Bungo asked. “Thorin’s parents I mean. Were they informed that there is a baby waiting for them here?” His voice carried more bitterness than necessary.

“They are coming on the evening flight.”

“You are still fat,” commented Frodo as he climbed on the bed next to him and hugged him.

Bilbo wrapped an arm around him and held him close as he muttered his thanks.

They fell into silence for the next few minutes before the doctor came in with a nurse.

“I heard your parents are here,” Arwen smiled as she greeted his parents. “How are you feeling?”

“Sore.”

“Would you like something for the pain?”

Bilbo winced as he tried to move on the bed, but still shook his head. He wasn’t playing strong, but if he could push a person into this world he could handle some pain.

“Would you like to take the shower while I talk with your parents?”

The idea of shower didn’t sound that bad, so Bilbo agreed. The nurse helped him stand up from the bed before helping him to the bathroom where he could shower, Frodo followed close behind, leaving their parents alone with the doctor.

“As you can see Bilbo is doing fine, physically,” she added and Belladonna nodded at her words. Her son wasn’t like he used to be one year ago. “The birth went without any complications. The baby was born healthy and handed to a social worker who is with him right now waiting for the adoptive parents,” she explained. “The records will still stay that Thorin and Bilbo are his biological parents, but legally they won’t be since they agreed to adoption.”

“As I said before nothing went wrong during birth, Bilbo didn’t tear so he should recover quickly, but as I said before I am talking about his physical recovery.” She took a deep breath before she continued. “During his visits I came to know your son well and I know that dealing with this loss won’t be easy for him or for any of you. I’m not sure what has he told you, but we agreed that the baby will be taken from him immediately after the birth.”

“He told us,” confirmed Bungo.

“I spoke with Thorin before Bilbo was taken into the delivery room and asked him to keep Bilbo calm after the baby would be taken from him… Needless to say Bilbo expected Thorin to help him and when Thorin and the nurse held him down he called him some names. I’m not familiar with their past, but with the things Bilbo said to him my guess is that things weren’t exactly great between them from the beginning.”

“That’s what the fight was about,” commented Belladonna and Arwen nodded.

“This is between them so I’m not going to interfere, what I want to see though is my patients healthy. I know Bilbo seems fine right now, but I want you to keep an eye on him in case he decides to do something… stupid.”

“Are you implying that my son will try to harm himself?” Asked Bungo angrily. His son would never do something like that.

“Not just harm himself, sir, but try and take his life.”

“Do you really think something like that will happen?” Asked Belladonna with concern.

“I can’t be sure, but I would like to prevent any incidents. Keep an eye on him, especially in these first few weeks. Don’t allow him to shut you out. Try to be patient with him, he’ll need time.”

“Would therapy help?”

“That’s for you to decide,” said Arwen. “In my opinion, it will do him more good if he talks with you than with a therapist. And you know him better so you’ll immediately know if he’s acting differently.”

Bungo and Belladonna nodded in agreement.

“When can we take him home?” Bungo asked. “You said he is okay and I don’t think he feels comfortable being here.”

“I would like to keep him here until the afternoon so that I’m completely sure I’m sending him home healthy,” explained Arwen.

“How about school and other activities?”

“Normally it’s recommended to take at least two weeks of rest after the birth, but since he had no complications I think you can allow him back to school after one week, but I advise taking it easy for another two. His body needs time to recover.”

Arwen promised to return and check on their son before he would be allowed to leave, shook their hands and left.

:::

Bilbo returned with Frodo and the nurse who helped him back into the bed a few minutes later. He was showered and dressed in clean pajamas and in general he looked much better than he did twenty minutes ago. Frodo once again joined him on the bed where he told him everything that happened while they were away no leaving anything out, keeping Bilbo’s mind busy from wandering to painful memories until breakfast arrived.

Frodo loved food as much as his brother did and so Bilbo had no other choice but to share his breakfast with him.

“You’re not eating for two anymore,” reminded him Frodo and Bilbo held back his tears as he handed over his yogurt. He knew that Frodo didn’t understand how much it pained him at every reminder that his baby was gone.

If Bilbo didn’t say anything his parents couldn’t keep quiet. “Leave your brother’s breakfast alone,” told him Bungo. “I’ll get us something to eat from the cafeteria.”

After everyone expressed their wish what they want for breakfast Bungo left. He remembered the hospital. His wife gave birth to both of his sons here. And while being lost in his thoughts, his legs carried him somewhere he knew he shouldn’t go.

But he wasn’t the only one who was there.

“He asked why I didn’t come to see him,” Thorin told him quietly as they stood in front of the window watching babies sleep, one in particular to be precise.

Bungo didn’t have to look at him to know that Thorin was crying. “He just wanted to know you’ll look after him, that’s all.”

“But I can’t really do that now, can I?” Thorin asked, his voice icy. “Look at him. My brother.” The last part was said with disgust.

“He’s beautiful,” told him Bungo.

“He’s perfect,” corrected Thorin.

“Looks like you.”

“He looks a lot like Bilbo too.”

“His nose…”

“And ears,” added Thorin before they went silent again. “It will never go away, will it?” Asked Thorin. “This feeling that I need to protect him, to make sure he is safe and happy, and that he has everything he needs.”

“You are a parent, it’s normal that you feel like that. Everyone does.”

“That doesn’t answer my question,” reminded him Thorin.

“No,” sighed Bungo, “It doesn’t go away. It’s the hardest job in the world.”

“You make it look so easy.”

“That’s because when you’re older you realize you can’t be a perfect parent, but you can at least try. Remember Thorin, being a good parent doesn’t mean buying your children everything they want, but being there for them when they need you. You’re going to be okay,” told him Bungo and squeezed his shoulder reassuringly, “We will all be.”

Before Thorin could say anything a nurse came out of the room. “Would you like to hold him?” She asked and offered him a warm smile while Thorin continued to stare at her.

“Go,” encouraged Bungo and gave him a gentle nudge. Thorin looked back at him once before following the nurse into the room. Bungo watched from behind the glass window, how the nurse asked Thorin a few questions and then sat him down in the chair. She then smiled at him when she lifted the baby (his grandchild) into her arms and carried him over to Thorin. She adjusted his arms before handing over the baby. It took only a few moments for Thorin to relax and hold the baby closer to him as he traced his finger down his soft cheek.

The nurse offered him a warm smile and told him to call her if needed before she left him alone.

When Thorin finally looked up from the baby in his arms, Bungo wasn’t there anymore.

:::

As expected Bilbo was discharged from the hospital late in the afternoon. His mother helped him collect his things while his father went to sign the papers.

He knew things were over between him and Thorin, but Bilbo couldn’t help but hope that Thorin will come to him, kiss him and assure him that everything is going to be okay.

But that didn’t happen. A nurse wheeled him out of the hospital where a taxi was waiting for them to go home. Bilbo allowed himself one more look behind before he got into the car and closed the door.

His mind was blank during the ride back. He didn’t listen to his parents talking, nor the radio or Frodo, who desperately tried to make conversation. What to do now, that was the big question. Going back to his normal self where no one knew he existed, where no one knew who he was, get his grades back up and hope for a miracle.

Miracle…

Thorin kept the pictures. All of them. He had nothing. Maybe it was better this way, not having anything, trying to pretend nothing happened, trying to pretend that these few short months he got to spend with Thorin weren’t the best thing that ever happened to him.

Thorin. Thorin. Thorin.

A few more months and then he would be gone forever. No doubt choosing some expensive college far away from here where he and Dwalin could be by themselves again without clingy boyfriends. It just hit him that he hasn’t told anyone he had a baby. Thorin probably did, so Dwalin and Ori probably knew, and Fíli and Kíli of course. They must be very excited, especially Kíli who was in love with the baby from the beginning. They would love the baby.

When they finally arrived his mother helped him to his room while his father carried his bag. It wasn’t much, but those were the last pieces of clothing he left at Thorin’s and now they were back in his closet.

His mother asked him if he would like something to drink or eat, but he told her no, so she left him alone in the room leaving the doors open and taking the key with her. Bilbo thought it was odd, but didn’t say a word about it. He just wanted to sleep, he wanted to sleep and then wake up and realize it was all just a bad dream.

Dinner was brought to his room that night and he had to eat it under his mother’s watchful eye, so that something _stupid_ wouldn’t come to his mind. He didn’t mind her company, it was just hard to talk to her. What would he say? I’m miserable because I lost the love of my life and our child. No, he couldn’t do that so instead he resigned into answering her questions about school, his friends, TV shows… anything that came to her mind.

“Your closet is a mess, young man,” she scolded full heartedly. “No wonder you can’t find anything.” She picked up a few shirts, folded them into a neat pile before putting them back in.

“How long until the belly goes down,” Bilbo asked as his mother started folding his maternity clothes.

“A week or two, it won’t be long before the swelling goes down. The extra weight you put on, on the other hand, won’t be so easy to lose. But don’t worry, you don’t have to hurry.”

Bilbo nodded as he absent-mindedly rubbed his belly. “It feels weird.”

“What does?”

“This,” Bilbo said and gestured to his belly. “I was so used to feel him move around… Now I feel nothing.”

Belladonna didn’t know what to say. ‘It will get better’ has been said so many times that it sounded like a broke record. “It’s something special, isn’t it? Feeling your baby move.”

Bilbo cracked a smile at the memory. “He was quite active, especially if Thorin was around.”

Belladonna offered him a smile. “So were you. You didn’t move unless your father was talking to you. Frodo, on the other hand was kicking me all the time. We knew he would be an active child before he was even born.” She sat next to her son on the bed and took his hand in his. “I know you loved this baby, I know you still do, but it doesn’t mean the end of the world. He will have a family who will provide for him, take care of him and love him. He won’t be missing anything even if he won’t be with you.”

“I know,” answered Bilbo.

His mother placed a kiss on his forehead before she left.

:::

His mother stayed home with him for the whole week. For the first three days he didn’t want to get out of the bed, he stayed up in his room sleeping. His mother brought him meals and stayed with him trying to make small talk. Sometimes she succeeded sometimes Bilbo just fell asleep.

On the fourth day he felt well enough to get out of the bad. His back didn’t hurt and he wasn’t as sore as he was before. Belladonna was never happier to see him when he slowly made his way to the kitchen. He was in a much better mood and Belladonna was grateful he wasn’t trying to hurt himself in any way. He helped prepare lunch before he went to the living room to watch some TV.

He was still unusually quiet but at least he wasn’t hiding away from everyone in his room. Everyone considered this a progress.

On a fifth day his mother went with him to a doctor’s appointment when he was once again told that he was recovering very well and that he should be back to normal in no time.

He refused to think about Thorin or the baby, but that night he couldn’t help himself.

“What are you doing?” Demanded to know Belladonna when she saw him.

“Nothing,” he answered as he continued to search through the boxes.

“Then tell me what are you looking for.”

“Nothing,” he lied. He knew that his mother saw right through him.

“What are you looking for?” She asked again as she joined him in the attic. Her son was surrounded with open boxes.

“Nothing… I just want to see my baby clothes that you put away,” he confessed.

Belladonna sighed before she moved a few boxes away and pulled out the one that had Bilbo’s and Frodo’s baby clothes and a few photo albums. They spent the rest of the evening going through the box and the photos, Belladonna telling him about every single one of them and for an hour or two Bilbo forgot what he was missing out.

:::

It was the Saturday, the day before he was supposed to return to school when Bofur came to visit him. With him dating Thorin and with everything that has happened, they drifted apart. Once they were good friends, now they didn’t even know what to say to each other.

“You look good,” said Bofur during commercial break.

“Thanks,” mumble Bilbo back and pulled a blanket over himself. He couldn’t help but to feel uncomfortable with Bofur staring at his belly.

“So how have you been?”

“Fine,” came a simple reply.

“Taking and additional week of vacation, huh?” Bofur tried to lighten the mood.

“I’m coming back tomorrow, if that’s what you wanted to ask.”

“Will Thorin be coming back as well then?” asked Bofur and looked Bilbo in the eyes.

“I don’t know. We broke up.”

“I’m sorry.” Bofur’s apology sounded sincere and Bilbo couldn’t help but to feel guilty for snapping at him. They were friends once, what’s stopping them to become once again.

“I’m sorry, too. For everything.”

“I wasn’t just our fault. Things happened and…”

“Yeah…” sighed Bilbo as he relaxed into the couch again.

“Was it a boy or a girl?” asked Bofur after a few minutes of silence.

“A boy.”

“The whole school knows, you know,” told him Bofur, though Bilbo wasn’t sure if he was talking to him or to himself. “Fíli and Kíli, well, mostly Kíli told everyone you had your baby but that’s all. They didn’t say anything else. And Thorin… I have to admit, I thought he was here with you or that you two were on a romantic getaway or something.”

Bilbo snorted at that. “I haven’t seen Thorin since we broke up, or heard from him.”

“Well then he is officially a missing person,” laughed Bofur. “He didn’t come to school this week and Fíli and Kíli have no idea where he is. At least that’s what they told everyone.”

Bilbo shrugged. “I don’t really have the energy to deal with Thorin right now. This is his way of getting attention from the people around him and I’m not playing that game. My main priority is school right now.”

“Still trying to get a scholarship?”

“The least I can do is try. If I don’t get it at least I’ll know I tried.”

“Die rich or die trying?” laughed Bofur.

“Exactly,” smiled Bilbo before turning back to the TV screen.

“So I’ll see you back at school tomorrow?”

“Yes, I’ll be there,” confirmed Bilbo and offered him a smile.

:::

Getting back to school was always easy for him. The first day of school was something he couldn’t wait to happen. But not this year. He found out he was pregnant on the first day of school, then lied to his parents about it, told his best friend and then finally confessed to his parents.

This time he was told to stay at home a week after vacation and now was finally the time to go back to school. Without real friends, without his boyfriend, without anything really. He was back to being invisible. Just like he was before he started hanging out with Thorin.

A part of him wondered if Thorin will show up at school. Will he finally see him? Would they even talk or would they pretend they don’t know each? Bilbo felt a knot settle in his stomach. He wasn’t ready for this. Maybe another week at home wouldn’t be such a bad idea. But he wasn’t a coward. He would face his fears, he would face everyone who will ask him about the baby and he was determined to do so without crying. He’s done enough crying for one lifetime.

He was prepared for this in a way, he thought as he slowly walked to the school. And he expected it. Everyone kept staring at him like, whispering to each other, pointing fingers. He looked different, he knew that and no one expected to see him in school so soon. He just had a baby for crying out loud and now he was back. He could almost hear what they were thinking. Some said that the baby died, which was absurd. Haven’t they heard anything that Fíli and Kíli said? Some assumed that there was something wrong with the baby, but most of them guess correctly: adoption.

Some mean things were said about him as he made his way to his locker, but he decided to ignore them. The good thing was that he wasn’t the center of attention for long, because soon people realized that there is nothing about him worthy of gossip and they went back doing their own business leaving him alone

The worst was behind him, he thought. But he was wrong so many times before and this time wasn’t much different.

An unexpected surprise is what was waiting for him next to his locker. He didn’t expect any of this, nor he asked anyone. He thought he was invisible and that everyone was tolerating him because of Thorin, well – almost everyone. There were some people who expressed their opinion or better said disgust over the fact that he was pregnant, he would never imagine that there were people out there thinking of him.

There, right in front of him were two gift bags filled with toys and congratulation cards and other stuff he never expected to receive. Who would do such a thoughtful thing for him, he did not know, but that didn’t mean he didn’t appreciate the gesture.

He saw a few students stop behind him, but he decided to ignore them. What was he supposed to do with all this stuff? He didn’t have a baby who would need them and trying to return the gifts and explain everything would be painful. The easiest solution would be if he could take them over to Thorin’s. But he knew he couldn’t do that. They made a deal. They were probably taking care of the baby and he was not allowed near him.

He knew it was a bad idea, but he could help himself as he reached for the first few cards that were on top of the bag.

He opened the first one and read it.

_Wishing all the happiness to the new parents! May life be especially sweet for you and your little baby!_

It was signed with a date and everything and Bilbo almost made a mental note to thank this person, but the problem was that he had no idea who they were.

_You must be sooo happy! Wishing you happy moments with your little angel!_

_Congratulations on your new bundle of joy! May your world be filled with love._

He didn’t even know why he opened the second one, or the third one and the fourth one, or the fifth one, but he just couldn’t stop. People were wishing the best for him and his baby, congratulating him and some even Thorin on becoming parents, think of them in the best way possible. How disappointed are they going to be when they find out that he didn’t keep the baby, that he gave him up for adoption.

He put the cards back in the bag and looked around. Kíli and Fíli were not in school today, he was sure of that, otherwise they would be probably around him right now. He needed to find someone who could deliver these gifts since he couldn’t do it personally no matter how much he wanted to do it. Maybe he would get lucky and see him even if only for a second. But that would pain him even more.

Since he couldn’t give them to Fíli and Kíli he needed to find one person that could, and he knew exactly where to look.

As expected Ori and Dwalin were sitting on the steps, well Dwalin was, Ori was sitting in his lap, but at the moment he saw him approaching he stood up.

“Bilbo! It’s so nice to see you.” Ori completely ignored Dwalin for a moment and hugged him. “How have you been?”

Ori realized he made a mistake the moment those words left his mouth. And to tell the truth Bilbo had enough of people walking on eggshells around him.

“I’ve been better,” he sighed. “I have a favor to ask.”

“Sure, anything,” smiled Ori.

“Could you give this to Thorin?” he asked as he offered him the bags.

“All of it?” asked Ori, surprised. “You don’t want to keep it?”

“Why would I?” Bilbo bit back.

“I don’t know… As a memory? I was told some of the cards were addressed to you.”

“If people knew what was really happening, they wouldn’t be. Besides, what am I supposed to do with all these toys,” added Bilbo and offered the bags once again to Ori who finally accepted them.

“Well, I’m sure he’s going to love them. He’s very beautiful-“ When Bilbo’s eyes snapped up, he knew he had gone too far, he shouldn’t have said that. “I mean… We saw him and-“

“Ori,” warned Dwalin who noticed that Bilbo wasn’t as collected as he was before.

“I’m sorry,” said Ori just above a whisper. “I shouldn’t have said anything.”

“It’s fine,” told him Bilbo in a broken voice and held himself back from asking more about what they saw. It would only hurt you more, he reminded himself as he tried to pull himself back together.

“Have you seen Thorin?” Dwalin interrupted the uncomfortable silence between them.

“We broke up,” informed him Bilbo as if that was supposed to explain everything.

“Oh.”

“You did not know?” asked Bilbo.

“We haven’t seen Thorin for over a week now. No one has. No one knew you two broke up.”

“Isn’t this normal for him, to disappear for a few days and then come back all beaten?” Bilbo knew this was a pattern with Thorin, but until now he believed Thorin did it to get people’s attention, only now he realized that Thorin obviously knew only one way to deal with the pain.

“For a few days yes, for a week, no. If you see him or talk to him please call me,” requested Dwalin just before the bell rang.

Ori immediately said his goodbyes not wanting to be late for class, gave Dwalin a kiss and then hurried inside, leaving Bilbo and Dwalin alone.

“Aren’t you going inside?” asked Dwalin.

“No, I think I’ll go home, I’m not feeling well.”

“Bilbo,” called Dwalin after him. “Just don’t do anything stupid, Thorin is enough trouble as it.”

“Why do you even care what I do? I don’t mean anything to you.”

“Because no matter what, my best friend loves you and in my book that means you are as important to me as he is.”

Bilbo started at Dwalin for a moment before turning around and heading back home. _Because Thorin loves you,_ echoed in his mind. _Too bad we are not together anymore,_ he thought as he made his way home.

:::

Bilbo returned to school the next morning and he managed to stay there through all the classes he had. It wasn’t easy. People were staring at him and some of the professors were nicer to him than they usually were. He could live with that, what he couldn’t stand was the pitying. Everyone was looking and dealing with him as if he will break the moment they’ll speak to him. He hated that feeling.

His parents were determined to talk with him every day after school about everything that has happened and they didn’t leave him alone until he told them. He thought he could handle it. The way everyone was avoiding him or the way they were looking at him. He preferred when they called him names to all this pitying.

It took him four days to realize that he couldn’t do it anymore. People will forget, his mother told him. Of course they will forget, but he’ll be scarred for life before that will happen. He needed to go away, far away from here. Where people didn’t look at him that way, where no one knew what happened. Here everything reminded him of things he lost and everything that he went through. He needed to start fresh. Somewhere where people won’t know him or his story.

Surprisingly, his parents were easy to convince. They talked about this before, about the possibility of moving away and when he told them what he wanted to do they agreed. Of course they weren’t happy about sending their son away, no parent is, but they knew it was for the best. He would stay with their relatives so they could keep an eye on him to prevent him from doing anything stupid, make sure he’ll go to school, eat,…

It was decided. He was going to leave this place and leave everything that has happened behind.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I decide to split it in two chapters in the last moment. It just made more sense that way since this chapter focused on Bilbo and the next one more on Thorin. Together it was over 10,000 words, but I decided to cut some things away.


	35. Chapter 35

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All mistakes are mine.

**_“The miracle of love will take away your pain, when the miracle of love comes your way again.”_ **

To say that Thorin had a bad day would be a lie. To say that he had a bad week would also be a lie. To say that Thorin was in a really bad mood would be telling the truth.

Bilbo broke up with him.

They were angry at each other, he understood that, but he never imagined Bilbo telling him to leave. It was over between them and this time it was over for good.

He saw him leave the hospital, of course he did, he wanted to see him one last time. Bilbo didn’t see him, he made sure of that, be he saw him. He saw how tired and sad Bilbo looked as his parents helped him into the car and then drove away. He saw the burden Bilbo was carrying without even knowing. The burden of every decision he made, of everything he said and did, leading to biggest of them all: giving his baby up for adoption. His parents did sign the papers but he was the one who made that decision, he was the one who told them to sign.

In Thorin’s eyes, he was the hero.

He needed some time to think, to be alone, to calm down. His usually way of dealing with the pain he was feeling would be getting into a fight and then go back home. But this time there was no one who would take care of him because Bilbo wasn’t there and his family was over the moon with the baby.

His parents came in the evening. Fíli and Kíli came too and they were the most excited to see the baby. Not even bothering telling anyone where they were going they just disappeared. Thorin found them first. They were standing, just as he was a few hours before with Bilbo’s father, by the window looking in the hospital nursery.

It took them only a few seconds to find the newest member of their family. Kíli said that he looked like Thorin, except much less grumpy and more nice, just like Bilbo. Thorin had to admit that the baby had both his and Bilbo’s features but he sincerely hoped that any similarity to him will fade will time and that what he’ll get in the end was a miniature copy of his boy- well now his ex-boyfriend.

His mother joined them soon afterwards and informed them that the baby will be released from the hospital in the morning. His father didn’t even come close. They all waited for their turn to hold the baby and every single one of them made a comment about the similarity with him and Bilbo. What bothered Thorin most was the fact that no one asked about Bilbo. His parents were probably informed about the delivery and that it went without complications but no one asked Thorin about him.

Like he didn’t have any part in this. Like he didn’t do the hardest job in bringing this baby that everyone was cooing over in this world. A visit probably wouldn’t the best idea but maybe a bouquet of flowers or something, anything really that would show Bilbo that they cared that they didn’t just take his baby and now completely forgot about his existence.

Sadly they did nothing for him.

After an hour his mother announced that she was tired from the trip. She wanted to go home take a bath and relax. Thorin had to bit his tongue otherwise he would have said some inappropriate things. How could his mother be thinking of sleep when she had a child in the hospital. Wasn’t that was his parents wanted, another child? And now they had it and it would be stupid to expect a different upbringing than for him and his brothers. Being raised by nannies that’s what was in this baby’s future. Parents who didn’t care parents who didn’t pay attention, who didn’t show interest, parents that were absent from his life.

He couldn’t do that, not to his child, so he decided to stay. He stayed up whole night and watched his son sleep peacefully in the nursery. For a reason he did not understand being close to him calmed him down, he wasn’t angry, he was able to forget about everything. While being close to his son he couldn’t afford to be selfish or greedy, his son deserved better than that.

But the morning came too soon for his liking and after having a shouting match with his father, the nurse helped his mother with the baby and they took him away, leaving Thorin alone and completely lost in the hospital.

He didn’t know what else to do or who to turn to. He couldn’t talk to Dwalin right now, he wouldn’t understand, he wasn’t a parent. It was impossible to explain to someone that something so small and innocent captured your heart in a matter of minutes after entering the world. But he needed to go away, he needed some time to think, or to forget, whatever would work better.

He grabbed the car keys and left. He drove all day and all night, not really knowing where he was going, only stopping to refill the gas tank, wondering when his father will cancel his credit card and force him to come back. It didn’t happen. He was gone for a week. The battery on his phone dead for a few days now so no one was able to call him. It was time to go back home and face reality.

It took him a few day before he finally got home. He was tired and hungry and in desperate need of a shower, but he didn’t want to go home, at least not yet. He wasn’t in the mood to have a shouting match with his father. He needed a few more minutes, just a few more.

So he took a turn and drove for a few minutes into the forest before stopping. It was a few minute walk from the car to the small lake. He knew this place well because when he needed to escape this was the perfect place. Sitting on a bench, watching the water, peace and quiet, it was everything he needed. Except this time he wasn’t there alone.

“Thorin Durin,” came a deep voice and Thorin closed his eyes and let out a sigh. He had no idea what the old man was doing here. “May I join you?”

Before Thorin could tell him ‘no’ and ‘go away’ the old man sat down next to him.

“Peace and quiet, isn’t it beautiful?”

“Not anymore,” commented Thorin dryly.

“You do lack manners. It’s a wonder Bilbo was-“

“Don’t you dare,” growled Thorin warningly, rudely interrupting the old man sitting next to him. But the old man didn’t even flinch. What the principal was doing here Thorin did not know.

“You’ve been gone for quite some time,” commented Gandalf.

“I needed some time to think.”

“I see…”

Thorin turned his attention back to the lake, trying to ignore the old man but without success. Gandalf pulled his pipe out of his pocket and soon blew the perfectly shaped smoke ring making Thorin even angrier.

“Must you do this here?”

Gandalf looked at him with surprise. “This?” he gestured to his pipe. “It’s completely harmless.”

Thorin wanted to snap something back at him but most of all he wanted the old man to leave as soon as possible. “This is private property.”

“Indeed,” agreed Gandalf, “Yet, you always come here when you need some time to think.” Before Thorin could open his Gandalf continued. “I live just around that corner and this is my property.”

Thorin at least knew he crossed the line this time and decide to stay quiet. He looked back to the water hoping that his ignorance will make Gandalf leave, but the old man apparently had different plans.

“I got a phone call today,” he told him. “Bilbo’s parent’s called-“

“Not interested,” interrupted Thorin rudely, but Gandalf ignored him.

“He is leaving.” Thorin tried not to show it how much this affected him. Bilbo was leaving. The question wasn’t why, he knew that, but where. He wanted to know where he was going, he desperately needed to know. “It’s sad, isn’t it? The only person who was able to control you.”

“He didn’t control me,” growled Thorin.

Gandalf raised an eyebrow. “Did he not? I think Bilbo has more power over you than you are willing to admit. And now you are letting him go.”

“I’m not letting him go! He left me, he told me to leave! He wants to keep the baby and that, and that is something I cannot give him.” Gandalf didn’t move, instead he let out another smoke ring. “What?” roared Thorin, “You don’t think I tried? I spoke with my father, begged my mother to help me, but there’s nothing that could be done. Bilbo’s parents already signed the damn papers. You have no idea how much I wish they would have waited until Bilbo gave birth, or at least tell me. What’s done is done.”

“Indeed,” said Gandalf calmly. “It’s sad that that child has only one parent.”

“What are you talking about? Of course it has two parents, how do you think babies are made, old man?” growled Thorin angrily.

“So only one parent decided to give the child up for adoption,” said Gandalf absentmindedly, doing his best to ignore Thorin’s tone.

“No- Yes- I mean no…”

“You seem confused.”

“Bilbo’s parent’s signed the adoption papers because he’s underage.”

“Yes, that makes one,” Gandalf pointed out once again. He smiled when he saw Thorin trying to process the information. “I’m assuming you didn’t sign anything,” he said with a smile playing on his lips.

“N-No I didn’t,” stammered Thorin barely able to put a sentence together. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to be see someone.”

“Say hi to Bilbo for me,” called Gandalf after him.

:::

He was angry. Very angry. So angry he was prepared to kill his father. This was his plan all along. He played that card of his ignorance, of not knowing. He distracted him with other unimportant things so that he wouldn’t notice. Bilbo would be long gone before he would realize what has happened. Years would pass and he wouldn’t have known what has happened if Gandalf wouldn’t point out this to him. What an idiot he was, not figuring out this before, he thought as he drove back to the house. He couldn’t get there fast enough.

He ignored his mother’s calls as he marched through the house, straight into his father’s office. He grabbed the first pile of papers that he found and quickly went thought them. He found nothing. He pulled out the first drawer on his father’s desk, then the second one and finally the third. It all happened so quickly and he was so angry that he pushed everything off the table in frustrations. Where were they?

“Thorin, sweetheart, what are you doing?” asked softly his mother, worried that his son will harm her in his anger.

“What do you think I’m doing?” growled Thorin. “Where are those papers?!”

“What papers?” She couldn’t watch him destroy his father’s office. Thorin managed to turn it upside down in a matter of minutes. “What are you looking for?”

“The adoption papers, where are they?”

“In the safe,” quickly informed him his mother, making him stop for a second.

It took only a moment for Thorin to open the safe. After pressing the four numbers, the door opened with a click only to reveal another pile of papers. Luckily the folder he was looking for was on top.

“What do you think you are doing?” Thráin’s voice boomed in the small office.

“This!” Thorin pulled out a paper out of the folder and almost showed it into his father’s face. “This is what I am doing.”

“Who gave you the right to-“

“Who gave you the right!” shouted Thorin before his father could finish. His mother just stood there and did nothing. “You took a child from a innocent person with your threats. Made up a story about being in danger, presenting yourself as a savior when the only danger here is you. You are delusional!”

“How dare you-“

“How dare you!” interrupted Thorin once again. “How dare you sign these papers in my name? What gave you the right?!”

“You’re a boy! You know nothing of this world!”

“I’m an adult and you forged my signature to take _my son_ away from me. You kidnapped my child!”

“Both of you, calm down!” demanded his mother.

“And you,” accused Thorin, “You knew all along and you didn’t say anything! What’s wrong with you?!”

“Don’t talk to your mother like that!”

“I should call the police, put you in jail for what you did,” Thorin told his father. “You have no idea how happy that would make me. Normal parents don’t do thing like this to their children!”

“Thorin wait!” called Valla. “Please don’t do this. Let’s talk about it.”

“Now you want to talk about it,” laughed Thorin. “I’m not talking about anything with you two, but know this, I’m getting these papers annulled with the excuse that this was a misunderstanding. But if any of you comes close to _my_ child or Bilbo I won’t think twice before telling everyone what happened.”

He didn’t give his parents a chance to reply, he just stormed out of the room.

A shower, he needed a shower and then he’ll deal with everything else.

:::

The room was quiet when he entered it. Truth be told he was expecting a nanny or something sitting in the chair watching the baby, but he was alone. His son was sleeping peacefully and Thorin’s heart melted at the sight. Their child was beautiful. Perfect in any way. He didn’t even ask about his name, but he figured there was no point in doing so, maybe Bilbo will have some ideas.

“Thorin,” said Fíli quietly. Thorin noticed that both of his brothers were there watching him with his son. He didn’t doubt for a second about their love for this baby. “Everything is already packed,” informed him Fíli and before he could ask anything, Kíli spoke.

“We packed his stuff and took them to your car. You are planning to take him to Bilbo, aren’t you?”

“How did you know?”

“We heard what happened in dad’s office so we figured you may want to take him and decided to help you.”

“After all, you wouldn’t know what to pack,” teased Kíli and Thorin smiled at his brother.

“Yeah,” sighed Thorin and turned his attention back to the baby, “I’m going to take him to Bilbo.” He gently lifted up the sleeping infant from the crib and cradled him close to his chest. The boy let out a protesting whine before settling back to sleep.

“Wow,” said Fíli quietly. “You have no idea how weird this looks like but at the same time it looks so right. Can I take a picture?”

The dirty look that Thorin sent him was enough for Fíli to know he was not in the mood to play games. “Can you take his toy, please.”

Fíli took the toy and then followed his brother to the car.

Fíli and Kíli really packed everything the baby would need. They packed diapers, clothes, bottles, toys…everything. They even installed a car seat in his car. How they managed to do it so fast he didn’t know and when he asked about it Fíli just shrugged and told him that they’ve been going to classes with Bilbo. Thorin put the sleeping baby into the car seat and allowed Kíli to strap him in since he had absolutely no idea how to do it. With a few instructions on how to take the seat out he was ready to go.

He never drove so slow or so carefully before. But he also never had something so precious in the car. He kept checking in the back mirror if the baby was okay, but the boy slept through the ride without making a sound. Why would he? He was full, clean, comfortable and warm and he obviously enjoyed sleeping in the car. A part of Thorin couldn’t help but worry. Is he going to be too late, how will Bilbo react, what will happen when he’ll get there, how will he explain everything… Too many questions at the same time and Thorin was starting to feel a beginning of a headache.

The traffic wasn’t bad and he arrived quickly. He was worried, but he also knew it was the right thing to do.

Getting the seat out of the car wasn’t as easy as Kíli described it. He would need to work on that and on everything else because he had no idea how to take care of a baby. A few days ago he didn’t even know how to hold one for crying out loud.

After knocking he could hear Bilbo’s mother coming to open the door. It was clear that they were expecting someone, just not him.

“You’re early. We weren’t expecting you so… soon,” she finished when she opened the door and found Thorin standing there. He was the last person he expected to see. “Thorin…” Her eyes travelled lower only to find out that Thorin wasn’t alone. She gasped and covered her mouth with her hand not wanting to make a sound as she took a few steps back, which Thorin took as an invitation and entered.

“Is that…” She couldn’t finish her question as a few tears escaped her.

“Yeah. Where’s Bilbo?”

“What’s going on?” asked Bungo as he came from the kitchen with Frodo following close behind.

“He’s upstairs,” told him Belladonna.

“Can you watch him for a minute?” he asked as he handed over the sleeping baby. Belladonna nodded as she accepted the car seat before Thorin ran upstairs.

He could hear Bilbo talking to himself as he approached his room. He assumed that he was packing and he was right. Bilbo was trying to fill his suitcase with clothes that were in neat piles on his bed. Thorin didn’t dare to speak, it has been two weeks since he last saw or spoke to Bilbo and they didn’t exactly part on nice terms, so he decided to knock even though the door was open.

“Is the taxi here yet?” Bilbo asked without turning around. “I told you not to call him so soon. I haven’t finished packing, and I can’t find-“ he stopped the moment he turned around and saw Thorin standing there where he expected was his mother.

“Hi,” said Thorin, not really knowing what else to say. Bilbo’s eyes were red and Thorin knew he was crying. He looked exhausted and not in the mood to argue, not that he came here to argue with him.

“You’ll have to be quick,” told him Bilbo before turning back to his suitcase, “with whatever you have came here to tell me. I still have a lot to pack and not a lot of time.” It was a lie, they both knew it, but Thorin decided to go with it.

“Where are you going?”

“To my relatives – you know I really don’t understand what you are doing here, I thought we said everything there was to say two weeks ago and I doubt that you came here just to say goodbye…” Bilbo trailed off when he saw the plush bunny that Thorin was now offering to him. The same plush bunny he insisted that should be given to his baby. It was really stupid to think that Thorin would keep his promise.

“Brought you this,” he said and gave the toy to Bilbo. “I thought you might want it back.”

Bilbo had no other choice but to accept the offered toy. He was a fool to expect anything else. He hoped that his baby, his little boy would at least have something from him but now he had nothing. He couldn’t keep his tears from falling. “You promised, you promised me!” he yelled as he hit Thorin’s chest. Thorin said nothing except pull him closer until Bilbo could hit him anymore and all he was able to do was cry in his chest. “You promised!”

“I know, I know,” said Thorin as he pulled him back a little so that he was able to look Bilbo in the eyes. He wiped the tears away with his thumb. “I know I promised, I just thought you might want to give it to him.”

Bilbo’s eyes widened in surprise as he took a step back. “W-what?”

As on cue a loud cry was heard from downstairs and Bilbo didn’t need to ask to whom it belonged. Without saying anything he pushed past Thorin and hurried downstairs, he needed to see with his own eyes if what he heard was real.

And it was.

He stopped in the living room where his family was gathered around the car seat. He stopped far enough for not being able to see him. Did he really want to? If Thorin brought him just to say goodbye seeing him would break his heart once again. He couldn’t do it. He just accepted that he was gone and now this… He couldn’t decide what to do and his baby crying didn’t help much, until he felt Thorin’s hand on his back. It wasn’t much, but it was enough for him to start moving toward the crying baby.

Thorin gently took the toy from his hand and pushed him closer, not that Bilbo needed any pushing. “I thought you would like to meet your son,” said Thorin quietly, but loud enough so that Bilbo was able to hear him.

Tears were once again falling down his cheeks when he finally decided to look.

And there he was. His baby. He was perfect in every way, not that Bilbo ever doubted he wouldn’t be. And he was beautiful and perfect, and clearly uncomfortable in that car seat. His hands automatically reached toward the crying infant and without any fuss he had him in his arms a few seconds later.

Thorin wanted to curse loudly over the fact that everyone, except him, had no trouble dealing with the car seat. Bilbo looked like he has been doing it his whole life when he lifted the crying baby into his arms and cradled him to his chest.

“Hello sweetheart,” he whispered as he pressed a kiss to his head. “You are perfect, you know that? And I love you, I love you so much,” he said as he pressed another kiss to his son’s head. The baby immediately calmed down in his arms as he gently rubbed his back trying to calm his down. He had no idea what he was doing, but it was working.

“He’s beautiful!” exclaimed Frodo and Bilbo couldn’t help but smile.

He wiped the tears away before pressing a kiss to his baby’s head. “He is,” agreed Bilbo as he smiled for the first time in two weeks. He never wanted to let him go. This was his baby and it felt so right to hold him in his arms. “Thank you for bringing him,” he said to Thorin. “I know it wasn’t easy, so thank you.”

Thorin nodded, but didn’t say anything.

“That must be your ride,” said Belladonna when the doorbell rang.

“Can you ask for five more minutes,” Bilbo asked and Belladonna sent him a look. She had a feeling this won’t end well. “Just five. I promise I’ll go, I just need a few more minutes with him.”

He couldn’t believe it. He was holding his baby in his arms. He couldn’t describe what he was feeling as he slowly walked up and down the living room whispering to his baby, ignoring the rest of the world. If five minutes is all he was going to get he will make the most of it.

Thorin didn’t even notice that Bungo was gone until he came down with Bilbo’s suitcase. He was so mesmerized with the sight of Bilbo and their child he didn’t even notice how quickly time went by.

“You are still leaving?” asked Thorin with disbelief, but Bilbo ignored him.

“Thank you,” he said once again, ready to put the baby back down, but didn’t even move. He knew he would have to let go, but not so soon, maybe a few more minutes wouldn’t hurt.

“So this was all for nothing? You are just going to leave me here?!” Thorin raised his voice so that Bilbo would look at him.

“This isn’t exactly easy for me, Thorin!” Bilbo raised his voice, showing determination for the first time in weeks. This was the Bilbo everyone knew. “Even if I would be able to see him from time to time that wouldn’t make me feel any better. You have no idea how much it hurt letting him go the first time.”

“What if you didn’t have to,” said Thorin quickly. “What if you could keep him?”

“What are you talking about, Thorin? You, of all people know that my parents signed the adoption papers.”

“You did, but I didn’t,” informed him Thorin and he could see how confused Bilbo was. “Your parents signed the papers because you are underage, I didn’t sign anything. I’m an adult and registered as the other parent of this baby. With other words-“

“This baby legally belongs to you,” finished Belladonna.

“Yeah,” confirmed Thorin. “As an adult I have as much right to this baby as you do, but since you decided to give it up for adoption I’m the one who gets all the rights.”

“You are going to keep it?” asked Bilbo with a trembling voice, tears threatening to fall once again.

“ _We_ are going to keep it,” corrected Thorin and Bilbo couldn’t help but smile. “I have no idea how to take care of a baby so you’ll have to be patient with me.”

Bilbo couldn’t tore his eyes away from Thorin. His boy-, his ex-boyfriend just brought him the best news ever. When Bilbo finally nodded in agreement Thorin closed the distance between them and hugged him close, minding the baby between them.

“So the baby stays?” asked Frodo all excited.

“The baby stays,” agreed Bilbo and offered Thorin another smile.

Bungo took the suitcase back to Bilbo’s room while Belladonna told the driver they wouldn’t be needing his services anymore.

“Is this for real?” asked Bilbo when he was finally alone with Thorin in the middle of the living room.

“It’s for real,” assured him Thorin. “We can keep him. Our little miracle,” cooed Thorin to the baby and Bilbo couldn’t help but laugh.

“Little miracle, you remembered.”

“Of course I did. It was the best thing anyone has ever give to me.”

“Was?” questioned Bilbo, little annoyed that someone might have given something better to Thorin.

Thorin just smirked, knowing that he pressed just the right buttons on Bilbo to make him jealous. “Would you like to come to daddy?” asked Thorin and tried to take the baby from Bilbo’s arms, but the younger teen just turned away.

“No,” he said sternly.

“What do you mean ‘no’? I have every right-“

“You’re not his daddy, I am. Find something else.”

“It doesn’t matter how he calls us. Besides, it’s normal that I’m his daddy, you could be something else.”

“No,” insisted Bilbo. “You find something else.”

“No, you do it.”

“I gave birth to him.”

“That doesn’t give you the right to be called daddy.”

“Yes it does!”

“No it doesn’t!”

“Thorin!”

“You two are fighting again?” muttered Frodo as he came back to living room from the kitchen and found his brother and Thorin fighting. He let out a sigh as he sat down on the couch and watched them argue. This is going to be a long day. _Wait until they start fighting over the baby’s name,_ whispered a voice inside his head. Frodo just slumped back into the couch. Very long day indeed.

-The End-

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The end?  
> Like I said before a sequel is a possibility if you are interested in reading it.
> 
> Thank you all for reading, commenting, leaving kudos, subscribing, being patient with me. You were amazing!
> 
> A special thanks goes to Chamelaucium, Armitages and IheartOakenshield193712. You were always there for me when I need help or advice for which I'll be forever grateful.
> 
> If you want to read more of my excuses you can always find me on Tumblr.
> 
> And as alway, behind the story: http://blueberry23.tumblr.com/post/90688701141/behind-the-story-the-miracle-of-love
> 
> Thank you for sticking with me until the end. I hope you enjoyed it, and I hope to talk with all of you soon, hopefully with a new story.


End file.
